The Flight Before Christmas
by BrittLovesSan
Summary: Santana Lopez is going to spend the holidays with her family but before she can even get there, she experiences a very interesting journey on the way. It especially gets a little more interesting when the blonde seated next to her named Brittany Pierce wants to get to know her. Loosely based on a film of the same name.
1. Chapter 1

Santana Lopez is a lawyer and she has been working nonstop on a case for the last few weeks that Christmas and her personal life have sort of took a backseat. She's now finally getting some time off though to put her relationship first.

"So have you finished all of your Christmas shopping?" Quinn asks as they hang out at Santana's apartment.

"I have barely even started Quinn" Santana replies shaking her head. "I have been so busy that I haven't had a chance to go shopping. I did order a few things online but other than that I haven't really got anything for anyone" she states.

"Are you just going to use your time off now to finish your shopping?" Quinn asks.

"Yeah and to move in with Dani" Santana states. The main reason she took some time off just now was to move in with her girlfriend Dani but with her so busy at work then she's going to try and fit time in to do some Christmas shopping too.

"Are you looking forward to living together?" Quinn asks.

"I am but I'm also really nervous" Santana points out. "This is my third relationship in 5 years so I really hope this is the one that works because we've been together for over a year already."

"You seem very happy with Dani so I don't see why this relationship can't work out" Quinn smiles.

"We've just had a few issues lately because we've both been so busy with work but we figured moving in together would give us more time to see one another" Santana replies.

"I'm sure it will" Quinn assures her. "Anyway I actually should be heading home now because I want to get ready in plenty of time for my work Christmas party tonight. I can't be turning up looking like a mess."

"Yeah and it will take you quite a while to look decent" Santana teases.

"I can always return your Christmas gifts you know and you won't have anything to open from me" Quinn smirks.

"Come on, there is no need to be mean. I was just teasing" Santana smiles.

"I know, anyway I should go now" Quinn smiles back. "Just let me know if you need help packing and stuff and I'll come over this weekend."

"I will" Santana says gratefully. "Anyway have a good night" she tells her.

"I'm sure it'll be fun" Quinn smiles and then leaves. Santana then decides to make herself some coffee and then sit down with her laptop and do some online Christmas shopping. She is beginning to make some progress when her phone rings.

" _Hello_ " Santana answers the phone.

" _Hi sweetheart, it's mom_ " her mom replies.

" _Hey, what's up mom?_ " Santana replies while trying to pack some of her books into a box at the same time since she just noticed a pile of them sitting at the side making a mess.

" _Not much, I was just wondering when you and Dani were getting a flight over here_ " Maribel replies.

" _We're flying on the 23_ _rd_ _, didn't I already tell you this?_ " Santana asks confused.

" _No you didn't_ " Maribel replies.

" _Well I meant to tell you. I've just been so busy lately that work has got in the way_ " Santana admits.

" _That's ok_ " Maribel replies. " _I'm so excited you both are coming home for Christmas. It'll be nice to finally introduce Dani to some of the family she hasn't met yet_."

" _Just don't put too much pressure on her please mom_ " Santana sighs. This relationship really means something to her so she doesn't want her family scaring away her girlfriend.

" _I won't but at the same time you can't expect me to keep quiet. Those so called neighbours of ours throw their perfect life into our face every year so this will be the first year I can get back at them. Just because their precious son is married and has a job doesn't make him any better than you. I can finally show off my successful and happy daughter_ " Maribel replies.

" _Ok mom_ " Santana says chuckling slightly. There's always been a competition between her parents and their next door neighbours so she's quite amused it's still going on.

* * *

Tomorrow is moving day for Santana so she's packing up some things tonight and she and Dani will start taking things to Dani's apartment. She won't officially move in until tomorrow but they thought getting a head start tonight would be better so it's less to move tomorrow especially since Santana wanted to fit in some Christmas shopping in the afternoon tomorrow.

"Hey babe" Santana smiles as Dani walks into the apartment.

"Hi" Dani replies quietly.

"I know I said I would be all packed by now but my mom was on the phone again and we got chatting for a little bit so I got distracted from packing. I'm almost there though" Santana assures Dani. "Just give me 10 minutes until I finish packing this box and we can start taking some stuff to your place" she says.

"Santana hold on a second" Dani says while walking closer to Santana.

"Honestly I won't be long, like I say just give me 10 minutes" Santana smiles while continuing to pack the box full of her stuff.

"No please stop" Dani says reaching out and taking Santana's hand to pull her away from the box.

"What's going on?" Santana asks confused.

"You and I need to talk about something so let's just sit down for a moment" Dani says while leading Santana over to the couch.

"Ok" Santana nods confused. She has no idea what they need to talk about but by the tone of Dani's voice it sounds serious so she goes along with it. "So what's up?" she asks as they sit down.

"I'm not coming with you to Ohio" Dani says nervously.

"What do you mean?" Santana asks frowning in confusion. "You said we could spend this year with my parents since we spent the holidays with yours last year."

"I know I said that but I can't come this year with you" Dani replies.

"Why not?" Santana asks, still confused about what's going on.

"Because I'm breaking up with you Santana" Dani sighs. She doesn't want to hurt Santana and she knows it's really close to the holidays so her timing isn't good but she can't do this anymore.

"But we're supposed to be moving in together tomorrow" Santana states.

"Well that's not going to happen either anymore" Dani states.

"I don't understand where all of this is coming from" Santana says refusing to believe her girlfriend could just break up with her like this.

"You know things haven't been going smoothly recently" Dani points out.

"Ok so maybe things haven't been perfect because we're both so busy with our careers but we agreed that moving in together would sort that right out" Santana states.

"Well I don't think that it will Santana" Dani shakes her head.

"You said you loved me" Santana says starting to get a little teary. She's really trying to hold it together because she hates crying but this has all took her by surprise.

"And I do" Dani assures her while trying to take her hand in hers to comfort her.

"Don't, ok" Santana says pulling away before wiping the tears from her cheeks. "If you loved me you wouldn't break up with me this close to moving in together and worse, not during the holiday season" she shakes her head.

"We're not working out babe so we can't move in together and pretend it will fix things when it won't" Dani replies.

"How do you know it won't fix us if you don't try?" Santana asks.

"Because I don't want it to, ok?" Dani sighs.

"What?" Santana asks shocked.

"I'm really trying to be nice about this and break up with you as gently as I can but honestly Santana, I don't want us to work anymore" Dani admits. She doesn't want to hurt Santana right now but Santana doesn't seem to want to believe things.

"Wow…that's real nice" Santana says hurt.

"Look I really am sorry about my timing in all of this but I would have hurt you more if I had let you move in and spent the holidays with you first" Dani states.

"What the hell am I supposed to do now?" Santana asks while shrugging her shoulders. "I have just signed the papers and the people I am letting this place to are moving in in two days. I have nowhere to go now Dani" she states.

"Can't Quinn let you crash at her place?" Dani reasons.

"She could but I shouldn't need to sleep on someone else's couch when I have my own apartment already" Santana shakes her head. "If you really hated being with me so much then why agree to let me move in with you and why not break up with me sooner?" she asks. If this was all done sooner then she wouldn't have let out her apartment to people and she would have somewhere to stay.

"Moving in seemed like a good thing at the time but over the last few weeks I got to thinking and I realised that it won't sort out our situation" Dani says truthfully.

"A few weeks?" Santana questions and Dani nods. "You have been planning to break up with me for a few weeks now?" she asks and Dani nods again. "God Dani!" she shakes her head in annoyance.

"I'm sorry" Dani says genuinely. This situation hasn't been handled well but she can't help how she feels.

"The whole time I have been talking about redecorating your place so it feels more like our home than just yours, you've been sitting mute planning on breaking my heart. Do you really think that's fair?" Santana asks.

"I didn't know how to tell you in the best way babe" Dani admits.

"I'm not your babe, the privilege of calling me that ended 10 minutes ago when my whole world fell apart" Santana states.

"Come on, let's not overreact too much" Dani says. "I'm breaking up with you, I'm not ending your career or something like that."

"You might as well" Santana laughs in disbelief. "I have been bragging to my colleagues for ages about how amazing my girlfriend was and how I couldn't wait to move in with her and now they're going to think I made the whole thing up. They're going to think I'm a complete loser, I don't know how I can show my face back in the office" she states.

"You care too much about what people think Santana. I very much doubt they'll think you're a loser because breakups happen all the time" Dani points out.

"I know they do since this is my third failed relationship in 5 years. They're going to think I can't keep a hold of a girl for more than a year" Santana sighs.

"Look I truly am sorry for the timing and everything of this but I really need to go now. Just please don't take this to heart so much" Dani says giving Santana a gentle smile.

"How can I not take this to heart?" Santana questions. "You've just broke up with me so it's highly unlikely I can just brush it off when I wasn't exactly expecting it a week before Christmas."

"I really am sorry Santana, honestly" Dani replies. "We'll keep in touch or whatever but I do really need to go now, just take care Santana" she smiles before leaving. Santana just sits there frozen on the spot for a moment wondering if that whole conversation really happened or if this was some weird awake nightmare she just had. She sits like that for 10 minutes, just lost in her thoughts until she's brought out of them by Quinn cheerfully running into the apartment.

"Who's all ready to move in with their girlfriend?" Quinn asks skipping over to Santana and smiling.

"Not me" Santana mumbles.

"I know I said I wouldn't be here to help you move until later but I got finished what I was doing earlier than I thought so I just came right here to lend a hand" Quinn smiles.

"Ok" Santana replies quietly while standing up and walking over to the kitchen to get some water.

"Honey are you ok?" Quinn asks concerned when she realises Santana's weird behaviour.

"Never been better" Santana mumbles.

"Yeah I find that hard to believe, what's going on?" Quinn probes. Santana doesn't verbally respond, she just starts crying. "Oh my god, what's happened?" she asks rushing over to Santana and hugging her tightly.

"It's over" Santana replies through hiccups.

"What's over honey?" Quinn asks confused.

"She doesn't love me anymore and she doesn't want me to move in with her" Santana states.

"That fucking bitch, I'm going to kill her" Quinn says in anger while pulling away from Santana.

"No please don't go" Santana says holding onto Quinn tighter.

"I want to knock that bitch into next week. She's clearly hurt you a lot Santana" Quinn states.

"I know but I don't want to be alone right now" Santana admits embarrassed. She and Quinn have been best friends since high school so she is the one person that can make Santana feel comforted when something happens.

"Ok" Quinn says softly while hugging Santana tightly again. "I'll knock that bitch out later on then" she states.

"Ok, thank you" Santana says laughing slightly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Brittany Pierce is a very successful accountant. It's not the most glamourous job in the world but because she's very good at what she does, it's allowed her to progress throughout the company and is one of their star employees. She started off as an assistant before being promoted to a fully qualified accountant and then to one of their most experienced accountants.

She is currently working on some things at home for work when she gets a call. She checks the caller ID and sees it's her girlfriend Kate so she quickly picks up.

" _Hello_ " Brittany answers.

" _Hey, it's me_ " Kate replies cheerfully. " _I just wanted to check in with you and see how things are_ " she replies.

" _They're good, I'm just doing some work at home_ " Brittany replies. " _How are things with you and your parents_?" she asks. Her girlfriend has flown out already to spend the holiday season with her family.

" _Yeah everything is good with me and my family_ " Kate tells her. " _I'm a little bored without you though_ " she admits.

" _Why did you fly over there so soon then_?" Brittany asks laughing.

" _Because you know how much of a tradition Christmas is to my family and my town. It's a very small town so we're all like a little family here. The whole community comes together this time of year to celebrate the holidays_ " Kate replies.

" _Ok_ " Brittany nods. She doesn't quite get the whole Christmas tradition that Kate's town does but she appreciates it's a big thing to her girlfriend.

" _You'd actually enjoy all the festivities here you know_ " Kate points out.

" _Maybe I would but work doesn't stop until nearer the end of the week babe_ " Brittany points out. It's not necessarily a busy time of year before Christmas but it's still a business and they don't close this early for the holidays.

" _I know_ " Kate sighs. " _I just wish sometimes you could see my home life a little more_ " she states.

" _Me too but it is what it is and I can't change it honey_ " Brittany tells her.

" _I know_ " Kate says downheartedly.

" _Just think about the positives, at least I have a job that does eventually close for the holidays that allows us time together. Some people do need to work Christmas you know_ " Brittany points out.

" _Speaking of spending Christmas together, have you booked your flight yet?_ " Kate asks.

" _Yes I have booked my flight Kate_ " Brittany replies.

" _Ok good_ " Kate sighs in relief.

" _I've just got a few work things to take care of over the next few days and I'll be with you in time for Christmas_ " Brittany assures Kate.

" _Ok_ " Kate replies.

" _Listen I need to get back to my work but I'll call you tonight to say goodnight, ok?_ " Brittany states.

" _Yeah, speak to you tonight_ " Kate replies.

" _Love you babe_ " Brittany tells her.

" _I love you too_ " Kate replies while smiling to herself.

" _Talk to you later_ " Brittany says and then hangs up. She gets about half an hour of work done before she's interrupted again, but this time it's her friends Mercedes and Tina who have come over to catch up.

"Oh are you working?" Tina asks noticing some files lying around.

"I was yeah" Brittany replies.

"We can come over another time then because we don't want to interrupt you when you're busy" Mercedes states.

"No don't be silly" Brittany waves her off. "This is probably the last time we'll get a chance to catch up before Christmas so you might as well stay" she smiles.

"Ok" Mercedes smiles back.

"I'll make us some coffee and then you both can tell me what's been going on" Brittany smiles before walking over to the kitchen to make coffee. Once she's done, she brings the cups over to the couch and they all sit down and catch up.

"So when do you finish up work and head to spend Christmas with Kate?" Tina asks curiously.

"Well we close on Thursday but I'm not getting a flight until Saturday morning to stay with Kate and her parents" Brittany replies. "I wanted to spend a little time with my parents here since I won't see them on Christmas day before I fly out."

"I don't think I could spend Christmas without my parents and my family, it just wouldn't be like Christmas to me" Mercedes points out and Tina nods in agreement.

"You two are just lucky because you parents and your boyfriends' parent's all stay relatively close together so you can spend the holidays with both families" Brittany states. "I wish I could spend time with my family but Kate and I spent Christmas apart last year and that was just as bad so I want to spent time with her this year" she says honestly.

"It makes sense" Tina states.

"Yeah it does but it still makes me a little sad. I don't think I have ever not spent Christmas with my family" Brittany points out.

"Kate is sort of your family now though, I mean isn't the whole point of you proposing meaning you want to spend the rest of your life together?" Mercedes replies.

"Yeah it is" Brittany smiles thinking about Kate. "I supposed I just need to man up so to speak and accept the fact our families are so different."

* * *

Saturday 23rd December 2017

Santana is waiting in the very long queue to check in for her flight. Ordinarily a busy airport is manageable even though it's not ideal but this today just infuriates her even more because everything is so much worse with it being the holidays. She can cope with people bumping into her every now and again when they're rushing for a flight but this is magnified 1000 times since it's Christmas and she just wants to throttle the next person that pushes past her.

"Kick my bag one more time and I'll kick you" Santana snaps at the person behind her. "We're all waiting for the same reason so just chill out" she shakes her head.

"It's not me, it's the family behind me pushing me so I end up kicking your suitcase" the young man replies.

"Well tell them to stop instead of getting dirt all over my designer suitcase" Santana states.

"Designer suitcase?" the man laughs.

"Yes, why?" Santana questions offended.

"I'm sorry but this is the holidays and the airport is clearly hectic so I don't know why you'd want to bring anything expensive here if you didn't need to. It's to be expected that people will bump into you and push you when it's this busy. You should have expected this with it being two days to Christmas" the man states.

"Whatever" Santana says rolling her eyes and turning around. She realises the man does kinda have a point but she doesn't want to admit it to him.

The next few minutes feel like an hour with how slow the line is moving. She is seriously getting very frustrated at how people keep faffing around. Everyone knows they're flying somewhere so she doesn't understand why they don't have their boarding passes etc. all looked out ready to be checked in. It's wasting time having to rake through their belongings to find what they need when they've had every opportunity to do this while waiting in the queue.

Santana is just standing impatiently fidgeting with her phone when she feels someone push against her. "Excuse me" Brittany says trying to fight her way through the queue to get to the first class line.

"No I will not excuse you" Santana states annoyed while shaking her head. "You can't just suddenly turn up here and skip the line. The back of the queue is way over there so on you go."

"No I'm not…"

"You're not skipping in front of me so go to the back of the line" Santana states.

"You don't understand, I'm not trying to skip in front of you" Brittany assures her while smiling.

"Oh really?" Santana questions, not buying what Brittany is saying.

"Yeah I'm just trying to get to the first class line" Brittany states.

"Yeah nice try" Santana smirks before moving in front of Brittany so she can't get past.

"No honestly, I'm just trying to get to the first class line" Brittany states. "Here, take a look" she says while waving her booking confirmation in front of Santana's face.

"Fine" Santana states annoyed while sidestepping to let Brittany past.

"Thank you" Brittany smiles before proceeding to the first class line.

"That wiped the smirk right off your face didn't it?" the man behind her says while laughing.

"Whatever" Santana states while turning away from him again. This day just seems to be getting worse and worse for her. Not only did the man behind her point out a mistake earlier but now she has embarrassed herself in front of the whole queue by accusing Brittany of skipping the line.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Brittany has just successfully checked in and is on her way to the first class lounge to wait until the boarding call comes for her to board the plane. She is just about to enter when she overhears an older couple debating on who should get the last first class ticket. There happened to be a cancellation so one of them could upgrade their ticket but it would mean the other one would need to stay where they were. For some reason this strikes a chord in Brittany and she decides to offer them her first class ticket.

"Oh no you don't need to do that" the old man assures her.

"Honestly I want you to have it and you can both travel together. I'm just flying on my own anyway so I don't really need it" Brittany shrugs.

"It's very kind of you" the woman tells her.

"It's Christmas so think of it as an early Christmas present from a stranger…in the least creepy way possible" Brittany laughs.

"Thank you so much" the couple tell her gratefully.

"Don't worry about it" Brittany tells them and then switches tickets so the couple both have first class seats. "Have a nice Christmas and all the best for the new year" she smiles.

"You too" the couple smile back and then Brittany leaves.

Since she gave up her ticket then she was left standing at the departure gate waiting on the boarding call because all the seats had been taken already. She's a pretty active person but standing still for that length of time was making her a bit stiff. She did think about walking it off but the gate was getting busier and busier so there was practically no room to move. It didn't help either than kids were running around all over the place knocking into people, no doubt too excited for Santa coming to be able to sit still.

She breathes a sigh of relief when she finally gets to board the plane and gets sat down. She's not sure how she feels about her seat. It's an aisle seat which is good for the bathroom but you can't really see out the window from it so she'll likely be bored the whole journey. On the other hand though, a window seat would mean she's crammed in at the end and would have to disturb people to get to the bathroom and a middle seat is no use either because she'd be stuck in the middle of two people. Knowing her luck, she thinks she'd end up in the middle of two bulky men and wouldn't be able to move so perhaps the end seat is the best.

She is just sitting quietly waiting for her journey to get started. The window seat is now occupied but the middle seat isn't yet. She's kinda half hoping no one actually sits there but at the same time, it's highly unlikely there will be any free seats considering how busy the airport just was. After a few minutes, she's sees a somewhat familiar face push past her to get into the middle seat. She wants to say something to the woman but she seems engrossed in a phone call so she just lets her sit down and patiently waits.

"Dani I really don't care anymore" Santana shakes her head. "Honestly I am over it all so please just let it go. You made your feelings perfectly clear…no I'm not still bitter, how could I still be bitter about it when you don't even want me anymore…like I say there's no point in me worrying about it when it's never going to happen…no I won't calm down…I'm on my way right now to see my parents…no I don't think that we will talk when I get back…because there's nothing else to say…how am I being childish…Dani you are the one who called me and wanted to talk, I'm trying to move on."

"Excuse me miss, you need to turn your phone off" a flight attendant says approaching Santana.

"Ok" Santana nods. "Dani I need to go now…I'm on a plane so I do actually have to go, I'm not being childish" she says beginning to get irritated with Dani.

"Now, miss" the flight attendant says getting annoyed.

"I really need to go…I NEED TO GO!" she says yelling the last part so Dani will register what she is saying. "The whole flight is watching me and can hear my conversation so I need to go, goodbye" she states ending the call abruptly.

"Can you switch that off please" the flight attendant says with a warning look. "We are about to take off so seatbelt on as well please."

"Yes, jeez calm down" Santana rolls her eyes. The flight attendant just walks away shaking her head when she sees Santana turn the phone off. "Merry Christmas to you too" Santana shouts after her annoyed. She quickly regrets it when she sees the plane is in complete silence and everyone is looking at her.

"Hi" Brittany smirks.

"Oh it's you" Santana says in realisation while rolling her eyes. "I thought you were supposed to be in first class" she smirks.

"I gave up my seat to someone who needed it more than me" Brittany smiles.

"Ok, sure" Santana says in disbelief while nodding her head.

"I did, I swear" Brittany states.

"Whatever you say Blondie" Santana smirks again, refusing to believe Brittany's story. "So tell me, did you cut in front of some vulnerable old person or something because there's no way you would be seated before me if you went to the back of the queue?"

"You just won't believe anything you don't want to, will you?" Brittany smirks.

"I'm a lawyer so I can easily tell when someone is lying so I know you weren't in first class initially" Santana states.

"You must be a pretty rubbish lawyer then because I can assure you I am 100% telling the truth" Brittany smiles at Santana.

"I can assure you I…"

"Ladies and gentlemen, please prepare yourself for take-off" the announcement comes across the plane interrupting Santana. "It is likely we will experience some turbulence due to the winter conditions so please do not unfasten your seatbelts until we say it's safe to do so."

"I think we have already experienced a little turbulence with your phone call, what was going on with that" Brittany asks smirking. She clearly doesn't know Santana but she's noticed she is very easy to wind up and for some reason she enjoys doing it.

"I have no idea what you mean?" Santana states pretending not to care.

"At one point I thought you were going to fly off your seat in a rage. You shook the whole plane at one stage getting very animated with your hand movements. Did you think the person on the other end could see your hand gestures or something" she teases.

"This is going to be one hell of a long ride" Santana sighs before taking a deep breath to calm down. She's not going to rise to Brittany right now. She just wants to sit quietly and forget about her conversation with Dani.

* * *

It's a new story I'm trying out since it's Christmas time. Let me know what you think and if you'd like to see it continue.


	2. Chapter 2

"This is going to be one hell of a long ride" Santana sighs before taking a deep breath to calm down. She's not going to rise to Brittany right now. She just wants to sit quietly and forget about her conversation with Dani. They both sit back and the plane takes off.

"Why did I give up my first class seat?" Brittany mumbles aloud to herself struggling to get comfortable in her seat.

"Tell me something, are most women liars or just the ones I know?" Santana asks Brittany.

"I'm not lying about my seat" Brittany states.

"Ok everyone the approximate flight time is four and a half hours so sit back and relax" the announcement comes through the plane as they hit the air and the seatbelt signs turn off.

About half an hour into the journey Santana is starting to get really restless. She was trying to read her magazine but every time she needed to turn the page she would bump arms with either of the two people beside her. Brittany would just wink at her to tease her every time she did it but it was a different story with the man sitting at the window, he would elbow her back which she didn't take too kindly too. She wanted to say something to him so badly but she felt she made enough of a fool of herself today already.

"I feel like we should get to know each other before we start taking hands" Brittany smirks at Santana. "I mean I don't even know your name or anything" she states.

"I'm not trying to take your hand, greedy joe over here is taking up half my seat so I need to keep moving closer to you every time I want to turn the page in my magazine" Santana states shaking her head.

"Be careful with how loud you disrespect him because he looks like he could sit on you and flatten you with the size of him" Brittany jokes and Santana can't help but laugh a little.

"That's a little mean is it not?" Santana questions after regaining her composure.

"Well it made you laugh" Brittany smiles.

"Man this is not how I was supposed to spend my Christmas" Santana says with a loud sigh.

Brittany is just about to reply when the plane starts shaking abruptly and the seatbelt sign immediately switches on. A lot of the passengers who were up on their feet, start rushing back to their seats holding on tightly as they do so they don't fall over.

"The pilot has now switched the seatbelt sign on, can all passengers please make sure they are in their seats and their seatbelts are on" the cabin crew say through the intercom.

"On my god, we are so going to die" Santana says panicked as the plane continues to experience a great amount of turbulence.

Brittany smiles at her, "we're not going to die." She assures her.

"How do you know?" Santana snaps back. She doesn't mean to sound so abrupt but she is terrified right now. Never has she experienced this amount of unsteadiness on an aeroplane.

"Because I fly a lot" Brittany says giving Santana a calming smile. "At least once a month anyway" she adds.

"And does this usually happen every time you fly?" Santana questions.

"Of course not every time but…"

"See exactly, this isn't normal for a plane ride to suffer this much turbulence" Santana states interrupting Brittany.

"I'm almost certain it's just a really bad case of turbulence" Brittany says calmly. She's not too concerned right now about the flight.

"Well I'm not" Santana states panicked just as the plane start shaking even worse. She subconsciously grabs Brittany's hand to steady herself. Brittany looks at her surprised for a moment before she smiles. "Sorry" she apologies taking her hand away.

"It's alright" Brittany smiles again.

"I'm not even supposed to be on this flight" Santana states shaking her head in annoyance. "Some bitch decided to cancel my ticket for the flight I was originally meant to be on so this was a last minute booking" she says. Dani had paid for the two tickets with her credit card but after she broke up with Santana then she ended up cancelling them both since she didn't want to pay for tickets she wouldn't use. This left Santana rushing around trying to book another ticket, she was just lucky enough to get a deal on a last minute ticket.

"I see" Brittany nods in understanding just as the plane experiences more bad turbulence causing her to reach out and grab Santana's hand this time. Santana subconsciously places her other hand on top of Brittany's.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sorry to tell you that there looks to be a storm ahead so due to the current weather conditions, it's not safe to fly there at the moment so we're going to have to ground the plane" the announcement comes through the plane.

"Ground it, we've barely even moved" Santana states in disbelief.

"We're diverting you right now and we hope to get everyone safely home for the holidays as soon as possible" the announcement continues.

"It's going to be ok, it's going to be ok" Santana repeats aloud to herself while trying to take deep breaths in and out to calm down. Brittany looks at her and can't help but smile, she just finds Santana really adorable right now.

As soon as the plane lands safely at the new location, everyone starts rushing to get off the plane to find out what happens next. Santana rushes ahead almost knocking Brittany down trying to get off the plane to figure out where they actually are and where to go now while Brittany remains calm and leisurely departs once everyone has left. Once Santana gets a little information on what happens now, she decides to text Quinn and let her know what's going on. Brittany meanwhile calls her girlfriend.

" _Brittany?_ " Kate answers confused.

" _Hi babe_ " Brittany greets her girlfriend.

" _Aren't you supposed to be in the air right now?_ " Kate asks. " _I'm supposed to be picking you up from the airport in a few hours?_ " she states.

" _I'm supposed to be yes but we ran into a storm so we got rerouted to…"_

" _Really, how late are you going to be?"_ Kate asks surprised not bothering to let Brittany finish telling her where she's been diverted to.

" _I really don't know Kate, I don't control the weather_ " Brittany states a little annoyed. She knows it's not Kate's fault but it isn't hers either and Kate isn't being very sympathetic. " _I'm fine by the way just in case you were wondering_ " she adds just as Santana glances at her for a moment.

" _I'm sorry babe_ " Kate apologises realising how things might have sounded. " _I just really wanted you here for Christmas that's all._ "

" _I know you did and I want to be there for Christmas too because you're my girlfriend but I can't be somewhere I can't be_ " Brittany states. " _This probably would have been easier if you came to me for Christmas_ " she adds.

" _Brittany we talked about this already. I wanted you to spend Christmas with my family this year because you're always spending Christmas in LA_ " Kate states. Brittany has lived in Los Angeles her whole life and her parents are there but Kate spends the majority of her time in Ohio.

" _I don't see why I couldn't fly your parents out to LA and both families could spend it together_ " Brittany states. She flies out every month to Ohio so she doesn't see the problem in them flying out to her.

" _We've already talked about the tradition my family have here in Ohio so I wanted you to experience that_ " Kate points out.

" _Don't you want to experience my traditions at Christmas, I mean…you know what I don't want to fight right now_ " Brittany says.

" _Yeah neither do I_ " Kate agrees. " _Look I'm glad you're ok_ " she says genuinely.

" _I am and I will call you as soon as we're updated in what happens next_ " Brittany says.

" _Ok, I love you_ " Kate replies.

" _Yeah you too_ " Brittany says before hanging up.

"Do you know what I just realised about this whole thing, the signs are there but you just don't want to see them" Santana states turning around to look at Brittany.

"What whole thing?" Brittany asks confused.

"Doomed relationships" Santana replies.

"Hold on, were you listening into my private conversation?" Brittany asks.

"I wasn't so much as listening, I was just standing inches away from you while you talked very loudly on your phone" Santana states. "I'm just a human being with ears" she shrugs.

"If I want your input then I'll ask for it" Brittany states defensively causing Santana to just look at her. Brittany's relationship is a sensitive subject for her and she won't have anyone judging her. "And from what I heard earlier, you're not exactly an expert on relationships" she states.

"Excuse me, were you listening into _my_ conversation earlier?" Santana asks slightly annoyed.

"The entire plane couldn't help but hear your conversation" Brittany tells her.

"Look my point is I'm kind of an expert in failed relationships so I can see the signs clearly. Yes I was having a heated discussion with my ex on the plane. I was actually supposed to be moving in with her and then we were supposed to be spending the holidays with my family but she decided to break up with me a week before Christmas" Santana explains.

"Wow someone broke up with you, I wonder why?" Brittany smirks.

"I'll admit I'm not perfect and I have had a few failed relationships in the past few years so maybe I'm not cut out for relationships. Maybe I am supposed to live alone for the rest of my life but the point I'm trying to make is your relationship could very likely end up the same judging by that phone call" Santana replies.

"Are you done?" Brittany asks curiously.

"Yeah I'm done with it all, dating, love, relationships, the whole lot" Santana states.

"No I meant are you done talking and judging other people's relationships?" Brittany asks. She found Santana adorable in the beginning but now she's getting a little offended.

"Based on your conversation, I think you should be done too with it all" Santana states and turns around away from Brittany.

"Relationships are not black and white you know" Brittany points out. "They're about compromise and working together so both people are happy. It's also about patience which I'm getting the feeling you lack" she says causing Santana to roll her eyes and turn back around.

"I do not lack patience, I just…"

"Yeah of course you have patience. I mean you were patient with the man behind you in the queue at the airport, also with me when you accused me of skipping the line, and with your ex on the phone, and with the man sitting next to us, oh and you were so patient the way you calmly left the aeroplane when we landed. Yeah what am I thinking, you have the patience of a saint" Brittany states.

"Look whatever" Santana says waving it off. She is almost done with this whole conversation now.

"I believe in commitment and how you need to work in a relationship especially when things get hard. What you're probably needing is a woman who can go the extra mile for you" Brittany points out.

"What do you go the extra mile for your girlfriend?" Santana questions raising an eyebrow. Somehow she doesn't think Brittany seems the type that would but maybe she's wrong.

"Absolutely, every couple thousand of them" Brittany states causing Santana to frown in confusion. "My girlfriend spends most of her time in Ohio because that's where she's from so I fly out there once every month for her."

"I see" Santana nods in understanding.

"That's what I do to make it work" Brittany adds with a smile.

"Yeah you're probably right" Santana smiles.

"Thank you" Brittany smiles back.

"I mean how hard can it be to make a relationship work only 12 days a year?" Santana smirks. Just as Brittany is about to respond the man at the help desk calls their flight over to update them.

"Ok we have managed to get you all booked on another flight" the man smiles.

"Excellent" Santana smiles. "When does it leave?" she asks excitedly.

"Let's see…" the man says checking his computer system. "Tomorrow at 4pm" he smiles.

"You've got to be kidding me" Santana shakes her head in annoyance.

"Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, how on earth are we meant to be home in time for Christmas?" Brittany asks getting a little irritated. She's been reasonably calm so far but things are getting a little too real now.

"The storm isn't passing very quickly so I'm afraid all flights are grounded until the afternoon tomorrow. There will be no planes leaving or coming in at the moment" the man replies.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The airport is crowded with people right now. Everyone is either sitting around in coffee shops waiting or lying down on any spare seats they can find. A lot of people are on their phones too, trying to phone around hotels and B&B's in the area to see if they have any vacancies for the night. Brittany has tried calling Kate again to update her on what's happening but so far she hasn't picked up. Santana meanwhile is currently on the phone with her mom when she notices her battery about to go flat.

"Hold on mom" she tells her while quickly scanning the area around her. As luck would have it, she locates a free charging outlet so she rushes over before someone else gets there. "Sorry this one is taken" she says to the man who was about to use it.

"What's that sweetheart?" her mom asks confused.

"No I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to a fellow passenger. There was only one free power outlet left to charge my phone so I had to rush over to it. It's honestly like survival of the fittest here" she replies shaking her head.

"Have you tried phoning any local accommodation?" her mom asks.

"No I think I'm going to end up sleeping on the airport floor" she sighs.

"Look why don't you get off the phone from me and phone around and then call me back to update me, ok?" her mom suggests.

"Ok mom" Santana states and then hangs up. She quickly puts the internet up on her phone and looks up local accommodation in their area. She must have tried 6 or 7 places before someone eventually picks up.

"Hello, welcome to Stewarts Lodge" a woman answers the phone.

"Hi there, I was hoping you might have a room free for tonight?" Santana says, internally praying they have a spare room in their hotel.

"Oh I'm sorry dear we are fully booked for tonight" the woman replies sympathetically.

"Ok no problem, thanks anyway" Santana says downheartedly.

"Actually hold on" the woman exclaims as Santana is just about to hang up. "We've just had a cancellation so I do happen to have a spare room for the night. It's in one of our nicest suites that we have."

"Ok I'll take it" Santana replies eagerly.

"Ok what's the name?" the woman asks.

"It's Lopez" Santana replies.

"I will see you soon then Mrs Lopez" the woman replies and then they both hang up. Santana then grabs her stuff and heads towards the exit to go outside to find a cab to take her to the hotel. Just as she is walking past an old couple, she hears them talking and pointing towards Brittany.

"Look at that poor girl" the woman says.

"I know" the man nods. "She gave up her first class seat to us and now she has to spend the night on a cold, hard airport bench."

"We're lucky we have somewhere warm to be tonight but she doesn't" the woman states. As much as Santana is trying not to listen and for it to not affect her, it really does something to her. She really didn't believe Brittany in the beginning but now she feels bad because Brittany did actually give up her seat. She takes a deep breath before walking backwards and making her way over to Brittany. Brittany is lying sleeping so Santana gingerly taps her on the shoulder.

"Yeah" Brittany replies tiredly while sitting up.

"Do you have a place to sleep tonight?" Santana asks.

"What?" Brittany replies in confusion.

"A place to sleep tonight, do you have one?" Santana asks.

"Do you care?" Brittany asks with a slight smirk.

"Do you need somewhere to sleep tonight?" Santana asks ignoring Brittany's question.

"Are you saying you don't approve of my current accommodation?" Brittany teases.

"Look if you need somewhere to sleep tonight then I think I can help" Santana states.

"I'm already taken by a girl, I'm sorry" Brittany says with a smile causing Santana to roll her eyes at her.

"Look if you needed somewhere to sleep tonight and had no other options then you can share my hotel room with me" Santana tells her and Brittany looks at her confused, wondering where this has all come from. She didn't expect Santana to offer something like this. "Look I overheard the couple you gave your first class ticket to and…"

"You said I was lying" Brittany points out with a smirk.

"Well it was rather hard to believe someone would give up their seat for the shitty seats we had" Santana states.

"Hold on, are you apologising to me?" Brittany asks gleefully. She never thought she'd see someone like Santana apologise to her.

"Let's put it this way, I can either apologise to you or you can have somewhere warm and comfortable to stay for the night. It's probably likely that the room I have is the last available room in a 40 mile radius" Santana replies.

"Hmm…" Brittany says pondering the offer. "Do you really want to share your hotel room with me?" she asks.

"Hell no, not at all" Santana laughs. "But honestly, it's Christmas and this whole thing with you lying there like some wounded puppy is really making me sad."

"You don't strike me as somewhere who cares all that much about other people" Brittany states.

"You know what, never mind" Santana shakes her head. "Your ass can freeze to death for all I care" she states beginning to walk away.

"Wait, hold on" Brittany says jumping up and following after Santana. "I will take you up on your offer, thank you" she smiles.

"Ok" Santana nods.

"I'm Brittany by the way" she says holding out her hand to Santana. "Brittany Pierce" she elaborates.

"Santana Lopez" Santana replies while shaking Brittany's hand.

"It's nice to properly meet you" Brittany smiles.

"I think we both know that's not true" Santana laughs.

"Actually, as much as you offended me from time to time today, I do want to know more about you so it is nice to meet you" Brittany smiles.

"Ok, whatever" Santana says rolling her eyes before making her way outside to get them a cab. Brittany grabs her things and quickly follows Santana outside. As soon as they get into the cab, the driver takes them to their hotel.

"So you like my ass then?" Brittany says breaking the silence while turning her head to look at Santana and smirk.

"I beg your pardon?" Santana asks in a voice mixed between annoyed and confusion.

"You said my ass can freeze to death for all you care, which obviously means you noticed my ass the most otherwise you could have just said I could freeze to death" Brittany smiles.

"Just wind it in otherwise I'll take back my offer" Santana shakes her head.

"Wind what in?" Brittany asks pretending not to know what Santana is talking about.

"The little charade you're playing, I don't want to hear any more of your nonsense so reign it in please" Santana states.

"Ok" Brittany smiles. They fall into another silence for a few minutes before Santana is the one to break it this time.

"So since we are sharing a room, perhaps we should get to know each other a little" Santana states. She doesn't mean anything too personal but she would like a few details if she's sharing a room with a stranger.

"What would you like to know?" Brittany asks with a beaming smile. It's not like she's super happy about her situation at the moment but she loves riling Santana up so smiling brightly at her seems to work.

"You're not a serial killer or something right?" Santana states.

"Not a known one, no" Brittany winks at Santana.

"I really don't even know why I am bothering with you" Santana shakes her head.

"Ok I'm sorry, I'll be serious now" Brittany says genuinely. "I'm Brittany Pierce as you know and I'm a 26 year old accountant who is madly in love with their girlfriend" she smiles.

"Ok" Santana nods. Again another silence fills the air around them.

"Aren't you going to tell me about yourself?" Brittany asks laughing.

"I wasn't going to because you didn't ask me" Santana shrugs.

"In that case, what are you like Santana Lopez?" Brittany asks interested. "What do you do for a living?"

"I actually mentioned this on the plane earlier but I'm a lawyer" Santana replies.

"Oh of course, I remember you saying that" Brittany nods. "So may I ask how old you are?" she asks.

"No you may not" Santana states.

"Wow, you are so awkward" Brittany says bursting into laughter. She knows she shouldn't like this little game she has going on with Santana but she kinda does. One minute they are finally getting somewhere and the next one of them is being awkward around the other.

"I'm not awkward" Santana shrugs.

"Then why won't you tell me your age?" Brittany asks.

"Has no one ever told you it's rude to ask a woman her age" Santana smirks.

"I mean I've heard that before but it's someone like my grandmother that would say that. Not a young good looking woman like yourself" Brittany smiles.

"I assume no one has ever told you it's also wrong to hit on a woman when you're already with someone" Santana smirks again.

"I'm not hitting on you, I'm trying to get to know you a little bit" Brittany points out. If she was single then maybe this whole secretive thing Santana has might be attractive but she's not even going to think about that since she is happily with someone.

"Yeah, ok" Santana says not believing her.

"You really are a hard person to work out. You are so up and down it's unbelievable" Brittany shakes her head.

"You don't know me Brittany" Santana states annoyed.

"And you don't know me either but it didn't stop you from telling me to dump my girlfriend" Brittany points out.

"I didn't tell you to dump your girlfriend" Santana shakes her head.

"Yeah I think you did" Brittany snickers.

"Welcome to the area folks" the cab driver says as they arrive in the little town they'll be staying in for the night.

"Wow it's beautiful" Santana says in amazement. The whole place is decorated with lights and Christmas decorations. Brittany can't help but smile too at how lovely the town looks.

Once the cab driver stops at their destination, they hop out and Brittany gets their luggage out. The airline took care of most of the transport for the passengers on the plane so they didn't need to pay for their fare. They then make their way over to the hotel entrance and walk inside.

"I can take care of my own suitcase you know" Santana states as they walk inside and she takes her stuff from Brittany.

"I'm just trying to be nice" Brittany replies with a smile.

"Good evening, welcome to Stewarts Lodge" a woman warmly greets them.

"Hi I booked a room under Lopez for tonight" Santana replies politely.

"No problem, follow me right this way Mrs and Mrs Lopez" the woman says while her husband grabs their luggage.

"Oh I'm not Lopez, I'm Brittany Pierce" Brittany tells the couple.

"Oh very modern, keeping your own names" the woman smiles.

"Oh no, we're not a couple" Santana replies quickly.

"You're not?" the man asks confused and Brittany shakes her head. "You just looked so much like a couple with the way you came in the door. I mean you had all the suitcases and held the door open."

"Well no we're not a couple, we actually just met on the plane" Santana replies. "I just thought I should offer her to share my room because it looked so terrible, her just lying there on the airport bench all sad. It was actually rather pathetic really" she shakes her head.

"Charming" Brittany laughs.

"Oh I didn't mean I was calling you…look can we just get to the room please because it's been a really long day and I'd like to update my family on what's happening" Santana sighs.

"Of course, come right this way" the woman replies while leading them upstairs. "This room is a very special room in the hotel, it's the honeymoon suite" she smiles.

"Fantastic" Santana mumbles sarcastically to herself.

"Here we are" the woman smiles brightly as they walk into the suite. The first thing that catches Santana's eye is the bed because there's only one of them.

"Where would you like me to put your stuff?" the man asks holding their suitcases. Brittany and Santana just look around the room awkwardly. "I'll just put it here and let you decide" he smiles.

"Let us know if you need anything, now sleep tight" the woman smiles and then the couple leave the room.

"So the honeymoon suite" Brittany says looking around the room awkwardly.

"Yep" Santana shakes her head. There is only one damn bed in the place so she is not looking forward to tonight. Sure there is a couch but that does not look comfortable whatsoever so she doesn't know how Brittany will manage on that thing.

"I'm going to call my girlfriend now" Brittany says before leaving the room with her phone. Once she steps into the hallway she dials Kate's number right away who answers promptly.

" _Hi baby_ " Kate answers sleepily.

" _Hi_ " Brittany sighs in exhausted. It's been a bit of stressful day for her.

" _Did you get a new flight?_ " Kate asks eagerly.

" _I did_ " Brittany replies, " _but it's not until 4pm tomorrow_ " she continues.

" _Wait that means you're going to miss my mom's special Christmas Eve dinner_ " Kate replies annoyed.

" _Kate I can't help that. There is nothing I can do because there are no flights out until 4pm tomorrow at the earliest_ " Brittany replies with a sliver of annoyance in her tone. That wasn't the reply she was looking for from her girlfriend. She thought she could be a bit more understanding about the situation.

"Will you keep it down please, people are trying to sleep" a hotel member says through his door so Brittany moves further down the hall.

" _I'm sorry_ " Kate says honestly. She hates this just as much as Brittany. " _There's a massage waiting for you when you get home baby_ " she says trying to cheer Brittany up.

" _Sounds good_ " Brittany smiles slightly. " _I really miss you_ " she tells her.

" _I miss you too Brittany_ " Kate replies.

"For the love of god would you take that to your room please" the hotel member says still being able to hear Brittany talking so she decides to head to her room. Meanwhile Santana is still in the room and has just called her parents.

" _Santana, tell me you have good news?_ " Maribel says hopefully.

" _You taught us not to lie mom so I'm afraid I can't do that_ " Santana sighs.

" _Oh dear, so you're stuck there until tomorrow then?_ " Maribel asks.

" _Unfortunately so but if there is anything good about the situation then it's that I got the last available room in a hotel so at least I'll be warm and safe for the night_ " Santana replies.

" _Well that's at least something_ " Maribel says, grateful that her daughter is ok just now. " _Look you just need to have a good night's sleep and hopefully the weather will have cleared up tomorrow and you can come home to us._ "

" _Yeah hopefully_ " Santana sighs just as Brittany walks into the room still on the phone.

" _Who was that man shouting?_ " Kate asks Brittany.

" _Just some guy pissed that I was taking my phone call in the hallway_ " Brittany replies, rolling her eyes thinking about the impatient jerk.

" _Why were you on the phone in the hallway?_ " Kate asks confused.

" _Because I've booked into a hotel for the night_ " Brittany replies while walking past Santana who is sitting on the bed.

" _Is there someone else in your room Santana?_ " Maribel asks Santana as she hears Brittany through the phone.

" _I can't get into that right now mom_ " Santana states.

" _Oh Santana, what the hell is going on?_ " Maribel asks shaking her head. Meanwhile Brittany is still on her phone trying to explain things to Kate.

" _Is there another woman in your room?_ " Kate asks confused but is also worried at the same time.

" _What's that babe?_ " Brittany says trying to deflect from the topic.

" _I can hear another woman Brittany but I thought you said you were staying at a hotel for the night?_ " Kate replies.

" _I am staying at a hotel for the night_ " Brittany replies just as Santana begins talking to her mom again.

" _I've got to go, I'll see you soon mom, weather permitting obviously_ " Santana says and hangs up the phone.

" _There, what is that?_ " Kate asks. " _I just heard another woman talking_ " she states.

" _Um…_ " Brittany doesn't know what to say.

" _Brittany Susan Pierce, is there another woman in your hotel room?_ " Kate asks raising her voice slightly.

" _Ok fine, yes there is another woman in my room_ " Brittany sighs before taking a deep breath to think about how to explain the situation properly without Kate jumping to conclusions. " _We met on the plane and she kindly offered to share her room with me since it was the last one."_

" _Oh I bet she did_ " Kate says angrily. She's thinking of course someone is going to want to share a room with Brittany because she's an attractive woman.

" _It's not like that babe, I don't even like her like that_ " Brittany assures Kate.

"Oh no, I'm so hurt. My day is just so terrible now" Santana says laughing as she walks past Brittany to go to the bathroom to change.

" _Ok let me get this clear, you and some strange women are sharing a hotel room because she offered you to share and you just jumped at the chance_ " Kate states.

" _Please don't make this into something it's not. She offered and I needed somewhere warm to sleep because its cold here and the airport bench was not comfortable whatsoever_ " Brittany says trying to assure Kate.

" _Oh I bet you'll be nice and warm with some naked woman beneath you in bed_ " Kate snaps.

" _There is nothing to worry about because I would hope you trust me and the woman is straight_ " Brittany lies. She knows she shouldn't lie but if it helps this situation then a tiny white lie won't hurt.

" _She's straight, she actually said that?"_ Kate asks hopefully, beginning to calm down a little.

" _Yes the other woman is straight_ " Brittany says, grateful that Kate has calmed down.

"If you're talking about me then the only straight I am is straight up bitch" Santana says loudly walking out of the bathroom in her pyjamas.

" _Please tell me that is a joke and you didn't just lie to me Brittany Pierce?"_ Kate warns.

" _I'm sorry, I had to get you to calm down_ " Brittany says throwing a vicious glare towards Santana who just laughs in response. Brittany has wound her up enough so now it's payback she thinks.

" _Do you know what, have sex with this woman for all I care. Goodnight Brittany_ " Kate says while abruptly ending the call.

"Thank you so much for that Santana" Brittany says turning to face her.

"You wind me up, I wind you up. It's only fair Britt-Britt" Santana smiles brightly.

"Britt-Britt?" Brittany asks surprised and Santana nods. No one has ever called her that, Britt maybe but not that. "Sounds sexy" she smirks which causes Santana to frown immediately. "That wiped the smirk right off your face didn't it" she teases.

"How can you be so happy when your girlfriend is clearly mad at you and doesn't trust you?" Santana asks curiously.

"I'm not happy but a little comic relief by winding you up puts me in a better mood so that's what I'm resorting to to cheer myself up" Brittany shrugs.

"Well I'm going to bed anyway" Santana states while climbing into the bed.

"Excuse me, who says you're getting the bed?" Brittany asks walking towards her.

"It's my room therefore my bed, you can have the couch" Santana shrugs unconcerned about how uncomfortable the couch will be.

"Or I could share the bed with you since it's a reasonable size" Brittany suggests.

"I don't think your girlfriend will be happy with that" Santana points out.

"Honestly I'm past caring right now. This has been a stressful day and she's already mad at me anyway" Brittany sighs.

"Well tough, I don't share my bed with people I barely know so the couch it is for you" Santana smirks and climbs into the middle of the bed so there's no chance Brittany can get in at either side. Brittany should be irritated by this but she really can't help but smile at Santana right now.


	3. Chapter 3

"Well tough, I don't share my bed with people I barely know so the couch it is for you" Santana smirks and climbs into the middle of the bed so there's no chance Brittany can get in at either side. Brittany should be irritated by this but she really can't help but smile at Santana right now.

"Goodnight then" Brittany says while slowly walking over to the couch. She is really dreading lying down on this thing and she predicts she'll likely get no sleep.

"Goodnight" Santana smiles. They both get settled and eventually drift off to sleep.

Santana is having a wonderful dream right now, completely forgetting about the last torturous 24 hours she has experienced. She's dreaming about waking up on Christmas morning in her parent's house with her whole family around her. They're all heading downstairs to open their presents and have breakfast together. She's not even thinking about Dani because she has someone special in her life now. She is just about to go over to this special person to wish them merry Christmas when something starts tickling her foot so she is jolted awake.

"What the hell?" Santana says aloud while frowning in confusion. Brittany is lying at the bottom of the bed all curled up in a ball. Every so often when she takes a deep inhale, her hair brushes against the sole of Santana's foot causing it to tickle. "Get up" she snaps while nudging Brittany's head with her foot.

"Hmm…" Brittany asks sleepily as she moves her head away from Santana's foot.

"What do you think you're doing?" Santana asks annoyed.

"I think I was sleeping until your smelly foot came towards my face" Brittany states while sitting up slightly. "I mean I'm into kinky shit as much as the next person but usually they're feet need to be clean first."

"Excuse me?" Santana asks offended.

"You're trying to put your foot in my mouth or something and I mean I'm not really into licking people toes or whatever" Brittany shrugs.

"That is gross Brittany" Santana shakes her head in disgust.

"Exactly why I said your foot should be clean first" Brittany smirks.

"I was not trying to put my foot in your mouth, I can assure you" Santana states seriously.

"Yes I think I know that" Brittany smiles. She is clearly just teasing Santana because it's obvious to her that Santana isn't going to do that.

"Look what the hell are you doing in my bed" Santana asks. She has just registered the fact she has a girl in her bed who she barely knows so she subconsciously pulls the covers a little tighter around herself. At first she was just pissed but now she's actually registering what's happening and she is a little self-conscious.

"You'll stop your circulation if you pull the covers any tighter around you" Brittany smirks.

"I have a stranger in my bed so forgive me for being a little concerned and feeling just a tad awkward" Santana replies.

"Don't worry about it, I mean I did check and you're not naked so we're good" Brittany smirks.

"You checked to see if I was naked?" Santana growls at Brittany causing her to laugh so hard.

"Yeah I whipped the cover off you, saw that you had on pyjamas and felt satisfied to get into bed" Brittany shrugs.

"Brittany what if I really was naked?" Santana questions.

"Then I would have left the cover off just a little longer to stare before jumping into the bed" Brittany shrugs again.

"You're such a little creep do you know that?" Santana shakes her head.

"Relax I am just messing. I never looked anywhere because I knew you weren't naked. When we went to sleep last night you were fully kitted out in your cute little pyjamas and I gave you the benefit of the doubt about being a sleepy stripper" Brittany replies.

"A sleepy stripper?" Santana asks.

"You get like sleep walkers and sleep talkers and sometimes you get sleepy strippers who are people who like to strip in their sleep" Brittany explains.

"Well I can assure you I don't do anything in my sleep apart from breathe" Santana states. "Actually why are we even talking right now because it's like 3am. I should be sleeping peacefully and you should be on the couch."

"It does things to my back Santana and it doesn't feel nice" Brittany says frowning at the thought of that uncomfortable piece of furniture that some people call a couch.

"Not my problem" Santana states while gently pushing Brittany off the bed with her foot before lying down.

"Come on Santana, have a heart" Brittany smiles.

"I do have a heart, I let you share my room with me remember" Santana replies. "Now go back to the couch please" she tells her.

"Can't you just find it in your heart to stretch your kindness a little further and let me curl up at the bottom of the bed?" Brittany asks causing Santana to sigh. "You won't even know I'm here, I'll be as quiet as a mouse and I won't let my hair tickle your foot either."

"No means no so no" Santana shakes her head before turning around to face the other way in bed and close her eyes.

"Fine" Brittany huffs before walking back over to the couch. She was thinking about waiting until Santana fell asleep before sneaking into the bed again but after musing over the thought for a little bit she realised she shouldn't. It might seem funny going back and forth teasing each other but climbing into someone's bed who say they don't really want you there is crossing boundaries. Santana might be just annoying her or she might actually be serious so since she can't be certain it's best not to invade her personal space.

Santana wakes up at 6am like she usually does for work but she ends up staying in bed until 7am because she knows she has nothing to rush getting out of bed for. They're stuck here until their flight leaves at 4pm so she doesn't see the point in jumping out of bed. That hour in bed though is excruciatingly boring because the hotel internet service is a bit unpredictable due to the weather so she was finding it difficult to pass the time with such a slow connection.

Once 7am hit, she quietly got out of bed and made her way over to the bathroom. She had to pass Brittany lying on the couch to get to the bathroom so she was trying to be as quiet as possible. Brittany was fast asleep but she kept tossing and turning so Santana didn't know if she would wake her up if she was too heavy footed. Eventually though after some hesitance, Santana just bolted to the bathroom and got prepared for a shower.

Brittany is awoken 15 minutes later after falling off the couch by turning over too enthusiastically. She shakes it off before getting up and heading over to the bathroom. Just as she puts her hand on the door handle and opens the door, she sees Santana standing there while quickly pulling her bathrobe around herself tightly.

"What do you think you're doing?" Santana asks outraged.

"I need to use the bathroom" Brittany states surprised. She did not expect to see Santana in the bathroom. Not that she forget Santana was in the room or anything, she just didn't really think about how the empty room would mean Santana was in the bathroom.

"Well I'm in the bathroom" Santana replies while glaring at Brittany.

"I can see that" Brittany smiles. They awkwardly look at one another for a moment or two before Santana speaks up.

"Why are you still standing there?" Santana asks.

"I actually do have to use the bathroom" Brittany states.

"Uh…ok" Santana says while trying to move out the way but Brittany moves the same way so they hesitate for a moment.

"Ok you go that way" Brittany smiles while stepping back.

"Thank you" Santana replies while sliding past Brittany. "Ok so I'm going to get changed out here so you go in there and stay in there please. Oh and yell if you want to come out because I don't want there to be any more surprises" she states.

"Ok, no problem" Brittany smiles and Santana shuts the door behind her. Brittany goes on to take a shower while Santana dries her hair and gets changed. It's about 20 minutes later when Santana is sitting on the couch putting on her boots when Brittany yells through the bathroom door. "Is it safe in this very moment to come out of the bathroom now?" she asks.

"Yes it's safe" Santana says laughing slightly.

"Ok good" Brittany replies while opening the door and stepping out.

"Wow…uh…eh…you don't have clothes" Santana is extremely flustered right now and turns around quickly. Brittany is standing there with a very short towel around her waist and has one arm covering her chest. "Why are you like that?" Santana asks while trying to control her breathing. It's been a while since Santana was this close to someone dressed like that. Brittany is not naked but it's a very short towel so she's kinda leaving nothing to the imagination.

"You must have took the biggest towels there was in there because this was all that was left" Brittany shrugs like its no big deal. "I'm just glad there was some sort of towel and you didn't leave me with a washcloth because that would not cover much" she laughs.

"I'm uh…I'm going to get some breakfast" Santana says pointing towards the door "and you can…you know" she says gesturing to Brittany's undressed state.

"Wait I'm starving so I'll come with you…if you want anyway" Brittany states. She hasn't eaten anything since early last night so she's getting hungry now.

"Uh…um…you should…um…put some clothes on first maybe" Santana says turning away again and taking a deep breath.

"Yeah I probably should" Brittany chuckles. "Excuse me" she smiles while shuffling past Santana to grab her suitcase. The closeness between them is all too much for Santana and she can't help but sneak a peek at Brittany's undressed state.

"I think I should wait outside" Santana states. She doesn't want to seem like a creep any longer and stare at Brittany's half naked body. She must admit though, it's not bad to look at.

"No you don't need to wait in the hall, I'll just change in the bathroom" Brittany smiles. "I really won't be long because I'll just tie my hair up and put some clothes."

"Ok" Santana nods before sitting back down on the couch. Brittany proceeds to the bathroom and gets organised. It's only about another 15 minutes before they're grabbing their coats and walking downstairs to the hotel lobby. When they get there, they speak to the couple who welcomed them there last night.

"We're off to get some breakfast so where would you recommend?" Brittany asks the couple.

"Joe's Diner is really good. A lot of our guests love it there and we've known Joe for a long time" the woman replies with a smile.

"Is that cool with you?" Brittany turns to Santana.

"Sure" Santana shrugs. She's really quite hungry right now so she doesn't care where they go as long as it's warm and has lots of food.

"Joe's Diner it is then" Brittany smiles and then they head outside to grab a cab to take them into the centre of the little town.

"I can't get over how beautiful this little town is" Santana smiles while looking out the window.

"I know" Brittany smiles back. "It's so festive and I just get this really warm feeling about this town. Everyone seems so friendly and welcoming."

"They are" Santana nods in agreement just as they get out of the cab.

"I never actually asked where the diner was but surely it can't be all that hard to find since this is just a little town" Brittany says as she and Santana walk along the street.

"Actually I think that's it right across the street here and down a little" Santana says while grabbing Brittany's wrist and leading her across the street avoiding any cars in their path. She doesn't even realise she has a hold of Brittany until they're safely across and are just walking leisurely along. "Sorry" she apologises while quickly letting go of her wrist.

"It's alright" Brittany smiles in reassurance. The reason she never said anything or pulled away was because she didn't totally hate that Santana had a hold of her wrist. She kind of liked the closeness of someone. Not that she forgot about her girlfriend or anything but she doesn't see Kate as much as she would like so she doesn't really get any affection from anyone no matter how simple it is.

"Hi there, we'd like a table for two" Santana says as they walk into the diner.

"No probably, just pick any table you'd like" the waitress smiles.

"I'm happy with this one by the window" Brittany says thinking it might be nice to watch the world go by as they sit and eat breakfast.

"Ok" Santana nods and sits down across from Brittany.

"I'll give you both some menus and you can have a little think about what you want and I'll come back over in a few minutes and take your order" the waitress says while handing them their menus.

"Thank you" Brittany smiles and then the waitress leaves. They peruse the menu for a few minutes before ordering what they want. They sit quietly waiting on their breakfast while glued to their phones. It's not that they mean to be rude but they're both anxious to get to where they need to be in time for Christmas so they're hoping to get an update on the weather and their flight.

"There you both go" the waitress smiles while placing the breakfast down on the table.

"Thank you" Brittany smiles.

"Yes thank you" Santana smiles too and then the waitress leaves.

"Wow how many pancakes is this?" Brittany asks laughing at the size of their plateful of food.

"Oh my goodness they taste amazing" Santana says savouring the taste, not wasting any time in getting stuck in.

"They actually do" Brittany says taking her first bite of breakfast.

"You should really try it with the syrup" Santana smiles while pouring a large drop of maple syrup onto Brittany's pancakes.

"Now that is good" Brittany says loving the taste.

"Been a while has it since you last had some good pancakes and maple syrup?" Santana asks.

"Yeah I mean I very seldom eat this kind of thing…in fact almost never" Brittany points out.

"Why's that?" Santana asks. She understands you wouldn't have this every day for breakfast because that might be a little unhealthy but a treat is good.

"Kate has me on a diet" Brittany shrugs.

"She sounds more and more delightful every day" Santana shakes her head.

"Don't" Brittany says also shaking her head. She doesn't want them to get involved in each other's love lives. It's ok to joke around but it's not ok to disrespect the significant other.

"I'm just saying Brittany that she has no right to put you on a diet. Your body is not up to her so if you want to splash out one day and eat some fricking pancakes then you should" Santana says getting a little too heated.

"Ok, calm down" Brittany smiles. "I didn't realise my body meant so much to you" she teases.

"I just don't think it's right when girls or even guys think they can control how their partner looks. My friend had a boyfriend like that and one of my exes was also like that" Santana states. "And trust me that failed relationship wasn't down to me, I just wasn't dating a bitch who thought she could tell me how to eat and what to wear."

"I don't blame you but honestly Kate isn't like that" Brittany replies. "She just wants the best for me that's all" she smiles.

"The best for you wouldn't be controlling your diet" Santana states.

"She only does it because she cares but I guess if I wanted to have something like this then I could ask her" Brittany shrugs.

"You could ask her…wow" Santana laughs.

"Please don't do that" Brittany shakes her head.

"You shouldn't have to ask your girlfriend if you can have something; you should just be able to have it" Santana states. "Honestly Brittany, it's not going to change your health drastically if you had a cheat day or whatever."

"Do you know what, you're right" Brittany states. "A decent breakfast isn't going to hurt me especially when we're having a shitty time of it and need something to cheer us up" she says.

"Exactly" Santana smiles. "Hey can we get two hot chocolates please" she asks the waitress.

"Of course" the waitress smiles.

"With marshmallows please" Brittany adds.

"No problem" the waitress smiles again and then leaves.

"That's the spirit" Santana smiles.

"It is Christmas after all so we should branch out and eat what we want" Brittany smiles back.

"Precisely" Santana smiles. They continue eating and then their hot chocolates come. They're reasonably silent while they eat since they're so hungry.

"That really was good" Brittany smiles while putting her cutlery down. "If I wasn't too concerned about my dignity and I wasn't sitting across from such a beautiful woman then I'd seriously lick the plate clean" she jokes.

"Be my guest, I won't hold it against you" Santana smiles.

"Ok" Brittany shrugs and then lifts the plate up to clean all the syrup off of it. Santana was actually a little surprised she did it because she thought she was just joking but at the same time she admires how care free Brittany is sometimes and how comfortable she is around her already even though they've only known one another a day.

"So I was thinking since we didn't need to rush back to the hotel since our flight isn't until 4 then maybe we could take a look around and see what festivities they have going on" Santana suggests while holding her hot chocolate tightly to warm up her hands.

"Sounds good" Brittany smiles. "Hey I like your nails by the way" she says just noticing them more clearly since Santana is holding her cup up in front of her.

"Thanks" Santana replies. She treated herself to a manicure to cheer herself up earlier in the week. She thought if she looked good then she'd feel good.

"They're very long though so are you sure you're into chicks because I don't know how anyone would allow you to get intimate with them. I mean if you came at me with nails like that and tried to…"

"I beg you not to finish that sentence" Santana states embarrassed.

"Fine" Brittany smirks.

"You really like winding me up and making me get all flustered don't you?" Santana asks.

"I like to joke around and wind people up yes but I didn't make it my mission to make you flustered or whatever" Brittany shrugs.

"Yes you did, you did it a second ago and then earlier with the towels" Santana states.

"The towels?" Brittany questions and Santana nods. "I really don't know what you mean" she shrugs again.

"You do so" Santana states. "You used the smallest towel ever to cover yourself after your shower when I know now for a fact there were bigger towels in there."

"No you had used the bigger ones so that's all I was left with" Brittany assures her but Santana isn't buying it.

"As we were leaving to come here, I had to quickly grab the necklace I left in the bathroom and I saw two large towels, only one of which I know I used" Santana points out.

"Ok so I admit I wanted to see that cute little flustered thing you do when you get all nervous around me. It's the most adorable thing ever Santana" Brittany smiles.

"You have a girlfriend Brittany" Santana states.

"I am aware of that and the towel thing was all in good humour. Making jokes is my coping mechanism so sometimes I joke around to take my mind off something else. In this case it was about how it's Christmas Eve already and I'm going to be spending it travelling and I might not even be with anyone I love on Christmas day. I might not see my girlfriend in time and my parents are back home thousands of miles away" Brittany replies.

"That's a fair point but in case you haven't figured out I'm not comfortable with jokes sometimes so it's making it awkward for me" Santana replies.

"I can't promise to stop joking around but I will stop making it as suggestive or whatever you want to call it" Brittany promises.

"That's good with me" Santana smiles.

"So tell me about you, what's your usual type then Santana?" Brittany asks interested. Apart from knowing Santana likes girls and she's now single, she doesn't really know much else about her personal life. She doesn't even really know much about Dani either or what she was like other than the fact she broke up with Santana.

"That's a little personal Brittany" Santana smirks. This type of conversation would usually make her feel a bit awkward and embarrassed but because it's Brittany asking then she feels she can be a bit more relaxed and be comfortable enough to even joke around about it.

"Sharing a hotel room could be considered personal too" Brittany shrugs.

"Fair point" Santana nods with a smile. "Well I mean regards my type, I'm not overly concerned about looks but more the type of personality they have. They don't have to look a specific way but they definitely have to have a specific personality or I won't date them" she points out.

"I see" Brittany nods.

"Actually about the looks, now that I think about it, I've only ever dated brunettes" Santana replies. "Other than that though, I don't have a specific taste for looks."

"That is so weird actually because I only ever date blondes" Brittany states. "Maybe you need to date blondes too since none of the brunettes seem to be working out."

"Blondes tend not to have great personalities" Santana teases.

"You've not only offended me with that comment but also your best friend Quinn" Brittany smirks back.

"Quinn?" Santana frowns in confusion. "How do you know I have a best friend Quinn and how do you know she's blonde?" she asks.

"Because I was looking you up on Instagram and you have lots of pictures of her and you always refer to her as your best friend" Brittany shrugs.

"My joke has totally backfired now hasn't it" Santana asks laughing.

"Yes it has" Brittany smiles. "Anyway, do tell me more about the type of personality you like in someone" she says.

"Well now that I think about it, it isn't all that specific. I just like a girl who is driven and focused on their career because then they'll understand me because I'm quite career driven. They also have to be confident but not cocky and a nice person in general because I don't want to date a bitch" Santana replies. "Saying that though, the girls I usually date are nice in the beginning but turn into a bitch so maybe I'm the issue there" she says chuckling at herself.

"I really wouldn't put yourself down like that. If it doesn't work out then they obviously aren't meant for you because I can't see you turning anyone into a bitch" Brittany smiles.

"No trust me, I can ruin a relationship in a click of my fingers" Santana states shaking her head.

"Do you know what I think?" Brittany asks and Santana shakes her head. "I think you need someone who can tell you just how good you are but I'm getting the feeling in your last relationships that none of the girls have really appreciated you and told you that."

"They haven't which I'm glad about because I don't like lies in a relationship" Santana states. Brittany smiles at first thinking she's making a joke but she quickly frowns when she realises Santana was actually being serious.

"I think you're putting yourself down too much" Brittany tells her.

"I'm not otherwise I wouldn't be alone on Christmas eve now would I?" Santana replies.

"I…" Brittany really doesn't know what to say anymore. Things have took a bit of an awkward turn and she's not sure how to recover things.

"I'm going to the bathroom" Santana says while standing up and walking to the bathroom. The truth is she doesn't actually need the bathroom but she wanted to get a moment to herself because the atmosphere felt awkward for her too.

As soon as Santana is finished in the bathroom and they get the check, they leave the diner. They start walking slowly through the town admiring everything that's going on at the Christmas fair. They don't necessarily participate in anything because neither wants to make a fool of themselves but as soon as Santana comes across something she used to do as a kid, she can't help herself.

"Can I get three balls please" Santana says while handing over her money. The aim of the activity is to knock down the 3 metal bottles with the ball and you can win a prize.

"This looks dead easy, I'll take three as well please" Brittany states. Santana takes her first throw but only knocks down 1 so she takes another shot and gets two this time. "Before you embarrass yourself with a third, watch how it's done" Brittany smiles cockily.

"Fine" Santana shrugs. Brittany throws the ball but it completely misses all three items and lands away over to the right. "Wow, excellent shot. You have to teach me that" she smiles smugly.

"I'm just getting warned up" Brittany states while loosening off her shoulders a little. "This is it now" she says while throwing the second ball and once again completely missing.

"This is painful to watch" Santana laughs while shaking her head. "I really don't care where this third ball of mine lands because it's going to be better than yours no doubt" she smiles.

"Whatever" Brittany says shrugging it off. Santana proceeds to throw her last ball and luck would have it because she knocks down all three.

"Oh look at that, I won, I won!" Santana exclaims happily while jumping up and down.

"Here goes nothing I guess" Brittany sighs while throwing her last ball but ending up only knocking down two things.

"For knocking all of them down then you get to choose something from here" the woman says turning to Santana. "And for you getting two, you can choose something here" she says talking to Brittany. They each pick what they want and then leave. Santana chooses the biggest teddy bear there was that's almost bigger than her and Brittany chooses a small cuddly toy polar bear.

"Wow my arm is almost breaking here" Santana smiles smugly at Brittany.

"That thing was fucking rigged, I'm telling you" Brittany says shaking her head.

"Come on, don't be such a baby because you're embarrassed" Santana says while hip bumping Brittany gently.

"I'm not embarrassed" Brittany shrugs pretending everything is all good even though she is a little embarrassed. It was just a tad humiliating for her having someone as hot as Santana watch her make a fool of herself. The only good thing is though that it put a smile on Santana's face again which Brittany was glad about after the slight awkwardness at the end of breakfast.

"Back to the hotel then is it?" Santana asks.

"Yeah" Brittany nods and then they make their way back along the street. Every so often she'll check her phone to see if Kate has returned any of the calls she made earlier.

"She still hasn't called you back huh?" Santana asks looking at Brittany.

"I have called her 5 times and left 3 voicemails since I woke up this morning and nothing" Brittany shakes her head. Even though Santana isn't getting a good impression of Kate, she does feel really bad for Brittany because she's trying to make things ok in her relationship.

"Maybe she just needs some time to calm down" Santana suggests.

"Yeah maybe" Brittany nods sadly. "Hey before we go back, do you mind if I quickly look in here" she says as they walk past a jewellery shop.

"Sure, I'll come with you" Santana shrugs. She might not have anyone to buy her jewellery right now but looking certainly doesn't hurt.

"Ok" Brittany smiles and then they walk into the store.

"Wow there are some lovely pieces in here" Santana says admiring all the nice things.

"Good morning" the saleswoman smiles at them. "Can I help you?" she asks.

"We're just looking right now" Brittany says smiling politely back.

"Now that is a nice bracelet" Santana says looking through the glass counter at some of the pieces there is.

"Would you like to try it on?" the saleswoman asks.

"Oh no thank you, I'm not looking to buy anything right now, just admiring the nice things" Santana smiles and the woman nods.

"Actually can I see that ring please?" Brittany asks the salesperson pointing to one of the engagement rings in the display.

"Of course" the saleswoman smiles while taking the ring out and sitting it on the counter.

"That does look like something Kate might like" Brittany says admiring the ring.

"Seriously?" Santana questions in disbelief.

"You don't like it?" the salesperson asks surprised.

"Oh no, I uh…" Santana tries to explain.

"Yeah she's not" Brittany shakes her head.

"I'm Santana, not Kate" Santana states.

"Yeah Kate's my girlfriend, I just met Santana on the plane and we've been stuck here since the storm" Brittany elaborates.

"I see" the saleswoman nods.

"Yeah I'm just thinking about proposing to my girlfriend Kate and when we were walking by here I thought I might take a look around and see if there's something here she'd like" Brittany replies. Santana just looks at Brittany like she's being absurd. "I thought maybe if I found the right ring first then everything can go from there."

"Yes the ring is the key to the perfect engagement" the saleswoman smiles.

"Do you know I just can't believe you're still considering proposing to this woman" Santana says shaking her head.

"Of course I am, I love her so why wouldn't I?" Brittany replies.

"You two have fought every time you have been on the phone and she clearly doesn't trust you since she assumed you were going to cheat on her just because we crashed in the same hotel room" Santana replies.

"She's just upset because I'm not making it to her parent's house for the whole Christmas extravaganza" Brittany states.

"That can not be the only thing that's wrong because you don't react like that just because someone is having travelling issues" Santana states. "You only see this woman a once or twice a month and you still think you should propose?" she questions.

"Ok so Kate and I aren't on the best of terms right now and we've had a few issues in the 24 hours that you have known me but you can't judge my relationship like that" Brittany shakes her head. "There is more to our relationship than what has been demonstrated in those 24 hours since you and I met" she states.

"Brittany she isn't…"

"You can't just throw away a relationship because of a couple of arguments…well at least most people don't like to" Brittany states looking at Santana.

"Thank you for that. Thank you for reminding me that I'm the expert in failed relationships and that you're the one who knows everything about a good relationship" Santana says while glaring at Brittany.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that like it sounded" Brittany says regretting how she said what she did.

"I think I'm just going to go back to my room to pack" Santana sighs. "Good luck finding your ring or whatever" she states while walking over to the door. Just as she is about to leave she hears an announcement through the radio indicating the storm has struck again meaning flights east are delayed once again.

"Santana wait…"

"Whatever" Santana shakes her head and storms out the door.

* * *

I promise things between them will pick up soon.


	4. Chapter 4

As soon as Santana got back to the hotel, she threw her stuff down and immediately pulled up the internet on her phone. She wanted to check the news and see if the weather really would affect her flight again. She really doesn't want to be stuck here any longer not only because it's Christmas and she wants to see her family but because things are getting awkward between her and Brittany.

"Why did you just rush off like that?" Brittany asks slamming the door behind herself. She's not actually sure why she was so pissed that Santana left but she is and it's causing her to storm into the room and slam the door.

"I just don't understand you Brittany" Santana shakes her head while putting down her phone. "You seem like such a sweet person but yet you want to go after this woman who quite clearly is being a brat."

"You don't know what kind of relationship we have Santana because you haven't know me long enough and you've never met Kate before. Just because the last 24 hours has been hard for us doesn't mean Kate and I aren't good together" Brittany replies.

"I know I don't know either of you all that well but it's obvious she doesn't trust you Brittany so why would you want to be with someone like that?" Santana asks. "Also by the sound of things you're making all the effort where she gets to stay at home most of the time and not have to travel everywhere."

"Like I mentioned before, being in a relationship involves compromise" Brittany states.

"I'm aware you said that but I don't actually think she is compromising anything" Santana shrugs. "You're the one who is spending Christmas thousands of miles away from your parents. You're the one who is traveling back and forth to see her each month. You're the one who keeps calling her on the phone, she never seems to call you."

"Ok maybe you have a slight point" Brittany sighs. "It doesn't mean I can't love her though" she states.

"Look the world is a crazy place and we don't always get to pick who we fall in love with but we do get to choose whether we want to be brave or not and see things properly" Santana states. "I'm not saying you need to break up with her tonight or anything?"

"You're not?" Brittany questions.

"Of course I'm not" Santana shakes her head. "I do think you need to reconsider the proposal though until you two figure things out. I mean have you even spoke to Kate at all today?"

"She won't return any of my calls" Brittany admits sadly.

"If I was with someone like you, I'd return your call in a heartbeat" Santana smiles before quickly frowning when she realises she just said that aloud. She was supposed to think that and now she's just embarrassed herself.

"Maybe proposing is too soon but I do have to speak to her before I do anything else too quickly. I can't know where we stand until she speaks to me right?" Brittany asks.

"Exactly" Santana nods.

"I wonder if I called one of my friends and asked them if they could call her" Brittany states. Maybe she could either get them to ask Kate to call her or even they could talk to Kate for her.

"I mean you could try that" Santana shrugs.

"That's what I will do, I'll call one of my friends and see if they can help" Brittany nods while dialling one of her friend's numbers.

"Well I'm going…crap now my phone is ringing" Santana says while frantically looking through her purse for her phone. As soon as she finds it, her face quickly pales when she sees the caller ID.

 _"Hello?"_ Dani says confused, unsure of whether Santana has picked up or not.

 _"Yes I'm here Dani"_ Santana sighs.

 _"Ok good"_ Dani replies.

 _"What do you want Dani?"_ Santana sighs again.

 _"I just wanted to see when you're going to come and pick up the rest of your stuff from my place"_ Dani replies.

 _"It's Christmas Eve for god's sake Dani"_ Santana states angrily. _"I'm not even home right now so how on earth do you expect me to do that?"_

 _"I didn't mean today, I meant as soon as you get back"_ Dani replies.

 _"Honestly Dani I couldn't care less about my things right now. I have more important stuff to deal with like finding somewhere to live"_ Santana says shaking her head.

 _"Well what about my stuff?"_ Dani asks. _"I left my electric toothbrush there and some clothes"_ she states.

 _"I wouldn't worry about those. I gave your clothes to a homeless shelter and I used your toothbrush to unclog my sink and scrub the grout on my shower"_ Santana shrugs.

 _"I beg your pardon?"_ Dani asks outraged.

 _"I said I have given away your clothes and…"_

 _"I heard but I meant what made you think that was ok?"_ she asks.

 _"I know it's not ok because the clothes were very outdated so they weren't exactly top quality but I figured the homeless shelter could hand them out anyways"_ Santana smartly replies.

 _"You're not even remotely funny Santana"_ Dani says unamused.

 _"Who says I was joking?"_ Santana asks.

 _"So you really haven't kept any of my stuff?"_ Dani asks annoyed.

 _"No because there was no room for it. Remember you made me homeless?"_ Santana replies.

 _"No I did not make you homeless. It's hardly my fault you agreed to let out your apartment"_ Dani states.

 _"Actually it is your fault because you asked me to move in with you so that what I was doing and I figured we could let out mine to get some cash. Also you could have told me way sooner that you wanted to break up and I wouldn't have signed the letting agreement"_ Santana states.

 _"Look if you happen to come across anything of mine that might be left then please save it for me and I'll come and get it"_ Dani says.

 _"Ok but don't hold your breath"_ Santana tells her.

 _"Don't worry I won't"_ Dani says before hanging up.

"Goodbye to you too" Santana says aloud to herself while putting her phone down. Brittany on the other hand is now calling Mercedes for advice about Kate.

 _"Hey, it's me"_ Brittany replies when Mercedes answers the phone.

 _"Hey, what's happening?"_ Mercedes asks. She hasn't spoken to Brittany in a little bit so she doesn't know the current situation on whether Brittany will get a flight or not.

 _"Unfortunately we can't fly until the early hours of the morning so I'm just waiting here bored waiting on updates for the weather and the flights"_ Brittany replies.

 _"Oh that's a shame"_ Mercedes says sympathetically. " _Oh Tina has just walked in so I'm just going to put you on speaker"_ she states.

 _"Ok"_ Brittany nods.

 _"So what's going on Brittany?"_ Tina asks curiously and Brittany fills in her on the latest events. _"So what does Kate think about all of this?"_

 _"I have no idea because after she found out I was sharing a hotel room with someone, she hasn't answered any of my calls. I don't even know if she knows I won't be there tonight"_ Brittany replies.

 _"Oh really"_ Mercedes says shocked.

 _"Would you both be able to do me a favour?"_ Brittany asks.

 _"Of course"_ Tina replies.

 _"Could one of you call Kate and either ask her to call me so I can tell her what's going on or if she won't speak to me, just fill her in on what's happened"_ Brittany asks.

 _"Ok we'll do that and get back to you"_ Mercedes states.

 _"Thank you, you two are the best"_ Brittany says happily. They then all hang up so Tina and Mercedes can get into contact with Kate. Unfortunately though, she isn't any happier about Brittany's situation so Tina and Mercedes are left to fill her in since she won't call Brittany back.

"I've just checked the weather forecast and it looks like we're stuck here for longer" Brittany sighs. "There is still no more flights out of here yet" she tells Santana.

"This really is the worst Christmas ever" Santana shakes her head.

"I was thinking maybe I could take you out to dinner and then we could go to the annual Christmas dance that the town has here" Brittany suggests.

"I don't know" Santana says unsurely.

"What's the alternative, sitting here complaining all night?" Brittany asks.

"That was my plan" Santana shrugs.

"Look I figured it would get us out the room for a bit and even pass some time instead of being stuck indoors counting the minutes until we get a flight" Brittany says.

"Ok, maybe I'll go" Santana replies.

"I know things got a little awkward between us but I quite like you Santana so I do hope we can be friends. I mean I was even thinking since we're both living in LA then maybe we could go for a drink sometime together when we get back home" Brittany states.

"Kate wouldn't like that" Santana states.

"Yeah but I'll like it and you might like it too" Brittany smiles. "Look no matter what happens between Kate and I then I still think we could be friends with one another. I mean we have somewhat bonded during this trip."

"I would like to keep in touch with you" Santana admits honestly.

"That's settled then, we'll meet up again sometime when we're back home" Brittany smiles. They then hang about in their hotel room for the rest of the afternoon before getting ready. Santana has just finished up in the bathroom and is now making her way out to the bedroom area.

"Wow" Brittany says in awe as she sees Santana.

"This is way too much for some silly dance isn't it? I knew it would be" Santana says while turning around and heading back into the bathroom.

"No wait please" Brittany states. "It's not too much" she shakes her head.

"So what was with your reaction then?" Santana asks.

"You just look so amazing that's all" Brittany smiles. "I mean not that you haven't looked good until now but like the dress is really nice on you."

"Thanks" Santana says blushing slightly.

"Ok so I better go and change now, I won't be long" Brittany smiles before going to the bathroom. As soon as she is done, she comes back into the room. "You're really do look beautiful" she says taking is Santana's appearance again.

"Thank you" Santana smiles.

"Come on let's not waste any more time" Brittany says heading for the door.

"Ok" Santana says following her.

After enjoying dinner together, they head to the venue where the dance is being held. As soon as they walk inside, the whole place is filled with people and there's loud Christmas music playing.

"I could really use a drink right now" Brittany points out.

"I'll follow your lead" Santana says while following Brittany over to the other side of the room.

"This isn't really the drink I was hoping for but it'll do" Brittany says while pouring some eggnog into their cups for them.

"Ok I want to see everyone on the dancefloor" the man on stage shouts to everyone in the crowded room. Everyone quickly grabs a partner and starts dancing except Brittany and Santana. They just stand awkwardly next to one another just watching everyone dance. After a few minutes the waitress from the diner at breakfast comes over to them.

"Well if it isn't the cute couple from this morning" the woman smiles.

"Oh we're not a couple" Santana tries to protest but the woman doesn't listen.

"You two better get out there and dance" she tells them.

"I'm not much of a dancer so I'll pass" Santana replies shaking her head.

"Yeah and I'm more into a different style of dance than this" Brittany says.

"If my husband was still here, I'd be on that dancefloor in a second" the waitress says. "You have to take advantage of when you're young and have fun and enjoy each other" she states while grabbing both their hands and leading them onto the dancefloor.

"I don't know" Santana says hesitantly.

"I've waited on a lot of couples in my time and I can always tell what ones are going to make it" the woman smiles as she lets go of their arms.

"Em…how?" Santana asks curiously.

"The eyes, they never lie" she smiles before walking off.

"I suppose we should participate…even if it's just for a few minutes" Brittany says smiling while holding her hands out to Santana.

"Um…ok" Santana replies nervously while placing her hands in Brittany's. They fumble about for a moment before they get the right hold.

"I'll lead if you want" Brittany smiles while placing her hand on Santana's waist while Santana puts her hand on Brittany's shoulder. They begin dancing slightly awkwardly since they're trying to find a pace that matches them both. Eventually though they settle in and Brittany is leading Santana all around the floor.

"Oh thank god" Santana sighs in relief as a slow song comes on. They've just danced nonstop for the last 3 songs and all of them were quick paced so Santana's feet were hurting in her heels.

"Are you glad we can slow down a little now?" Brittany asks with a smile as she gently dances with Santana to the music.

"Yeah" Santana smiles back.

"You have great movement by the way" Brittany tells Santana.

"Um…thanks" Santana says blushing slightly. No matter how much Brittany compliments her, she still struggles to take it without feeling embarrassed or nervous.

"So tell me, when was the last time you slow danced with someone?" Brittany asks curiously.

"I don't know if I ever really have" Santana shrugs. "I'm not much of a dancer and neither were any of my exes. Our usual date nights would consist of dinner or drinks, it didn't really include dancing."

"That's interesting" Brittany nods. "When we get back home, I'm going to take you dancing one night and I can guarantee you'll enjoy it" she states.

"Ok" Santana smiles. They continue dancing together but each time a new slow song comes on, they seem to get closer and closer to one another. At one point, Brittany slowly twirls Santana around and they end up as close as they could be without their faces touching with Brittany's hands on Santana's hips. They stare into one another's eyes for a second before both breaking eye contact.

"Um…maybe we should get some air" Brittany says nervously. This must have been only one of the few times she has got nervous during the trip. Nothing seemed to phase her in the beginning but suddenly she's getting nervous around Santana.

"I think you're right" Santana says not looking at Brittany. They then both head outside.

"It's really beautiful out here at night isn't it?" Brittany says admiring the beautiful view in front of them.

"Yeah it is" Santana nods while also looking around them at the view. "To think if I was still with Dani then I wouldn't have got to see this lovely town because my original flight wouldn't have changed" she states.

"I'm sorry you've been stuck with me the last day or two Santana" Brittany says sincerely.

"Oh no, don't be" Santana assures Brittany. "I'm actually relieved this happened if I'm honest because this last week away from Dani has made me feel like myself again" she says honestly.

"Really?" Brittany says surprised.

"Yeah because I don't think I realised just how much energy I was putting into the relationship to be who I thought Dani wanted me to be rather than just being myself" Santana admits. "It was exhausting really" she shakes her head.

"I can't imagine you changing yourself for someone" Brittany points out. She doesn't mean it in a nasty way but Santana just seems so strong sometimes and set in her ways.

"I mean I have always been pretty sure of myself with regards my friends and work but when it comes to relationships I'm not so much" Santana replies. "How do you know when a relationship is right?" she wonders.

"I have no idea" Brittany shrugs.

"You must have some idea though because you're about to propose to someone, I mean…no I'm sorry that sounded meaner than I meant it to" Santana says as she notices the look on Brittany's face. "I genuinely do want to know how you knew now was the right time to propose to Kate" she says.

"That's the thing, I don't know" Brittany sighs. "Kate and I have been together for a while and we know each other's family well so I figured now is a good time but I don't actually know if it is if that makes sense" she admits.

"If someone was going to propose to me, it's not likely to happen, but if it were then I'd want them to be ecstatic about it and want to do that because they want to not because they feel they should" Santana states.

"Sometimes life isn't as simple as that" Brittany sighs.

"If someone wanted to spend the rest of their lives with me then I'd want them to be happy and joyful about that. I'd want them to feel confident about being with me forever and not just doing it because nothing else is working out for them and they feel obligated to do it" Santana states. "But I mean, maybe that's just me believing in fairy-tales or something" she sighs.

"Hey, you deserve that fairy-tale" Brittany says honestly while stepping closer to Santana. They look into one another's eyes for a second and just as Brittany is about to lean in, she quickly stops herself. "We should go" she states.

"Uh…yeah" Santana replies nervously. They then make their way back to the hotel. They don't really say much to each other the whole way back because things are slightly awkward. Santana feels something towards Brittany so she's nervous and unsure of what it is and Brittany on the other hand feels something too but knows she's with Kate. She's not someone who would cheat on their girlfriend whether they're going through a rough patch or not. She's also not someone who would hurt Santana like that and lead her on.

When they get back to the hotel, Santana walks inside but Brittany hesitantly stands by the door for a second. She's not sure if she wants to go inside or not just yet.

"Are you coming in?" Santana asks while holding the door open.

"No I think I'm going to stay here and hang out for a little bit" Brittany replies. Santana nods and then heads inside. Brittany sits down on one of the chairs outside and just thinks to herself for a moment.

"Did you not like the dance?" the woman behind the reception desk asks Santana as she walks inside.

"No I did" Santana replies downheartedly.

"Well if that's your happy face then I'd hate to see your unhappy one" she jokes.

"No it's not that, I'm just confused" Santana sighs. "I mean what is wrong with me. Why is it that I'm more annoyed about a girl I just met proposing to her girlfriend than I am of getting my heart broken by some bitch that I was with for over a year?" she states shaking her head.

"Maybe you're ex just wasn't the one" the woman shrugs.

"I always pick the wrong girls, like all the time" Santana shakes her head. "Then it turns out the perfect girl was right around the corner for years" she sighs.

"So what now?" the woman asks.

"I just have this feeling she's going to marry the wrong girl" Santana states. She doesn't mean she wants to marry Brittany but she does feel Kate isn't right for her.

"I think you need to take a chance and tell Brittany how you feel" the woman points out.

"No I can't do that" Santana shakes her head. She doesn't want to say something embarrassing and then make a fool of herself.

"You might get your heart broken but it'll be better than always wondering what might happen" the woman replies. "You and Brittany, you have this thing that's special and I can tell you like each other" she says.

Meanwhile Brittany is outside looking at pictures of her and Kate on her phone. Things are just becoming really confusing for her now too. She's just staring at a picture of them looking so happy together wondering why that changed when the man that owns the hotel takes a seat next to her.

"You and Santana looked like you had a good time together at the dance tonight" he points out.

"Yeah…maybe too good" Brittany laughs.

"Is there such a thing as too good?" the man asks.

"There is when you have a girlfriend who is willing to put up with a long distance relationship because she loves you that much" Brittany sighs. As much as Kate hasn't been handling the current situation well; she must really love Brittany to be able to want to be together when they live so far apart.

"It seems like a lot of working trying to keep a long distance relationship going like that" the man points out.

"Work? It definitely feels like that" Brittany sighs. It shouldn't feel like such a chore but sometimes it does. "It's no good for anyone really and after tonight…" she shakes her head.

"Santana has got you wondering?" he asks.

"It's not like I haven't thought about it before but Santana…oh" she doesn't know how to describe what she feels.

"She is something" the man laughs.

"She can be impulsive, argumentative and she does what she wants" Brittany laughs.

"And you like that" the man smiles.

"Yeah that's what I'm afraid of" Brittany admits sadly. Santana is a great person and she knows she'd be lucky to have her but she does have a girlfriend. "Kate has been in my life for so long so I thought the right time would come where she would be a part of my future" she shrugs.

"Does this not feel like the right time" the man asks.

"Do you know it's funny, I'm supposed to be with Kate right now spending the whole holiday with her but yet I don't miss her" Brittany shakes her head. "I should be throwing tantrums all over the place because I'm supposed to be with the woman I love but the weather is preventing me from that. To be honest with you, it actually doesn't bother me all that much."

"Why do you think that is?" the man asks her.

"I'm guessing we're not truly meant to be together like I thought" Brittany shrugs. "Maybe Santana was right, maybe Kate isn't good enough for me."

"Would you say Santana is good enough for you?" he asks.

"I hadn't really thought about it" Brittany replies.

"Really?" the man raises a questioning eyebrow.

"Well maybe I had a little bit but I know I shouldn't be thinking like that because I am still with Kate right now" Brittany points out. She does think about Santana but she knows she shouldn't when she has a girlfriend so she has been trying to put the thoughts to the back of her mind.

"I need to get back inside now but you have to talk to Santana and obviously think about what you want in the future. Is Kate the right one?" he asks before leaving to let Brittany ponder the thought. Brittany stays outside for another few minutes before heading upstairs to go to her room. As soon as she gets there, she notices the room completely empty apart from her stuff. Her suitcase is sitting near the bathroom with the opened ring box on top.

"Shit" Brittany mutters aloud to herself. Santana or her stuff are nowhere to be found so it only means one thing – Santana has saw the engagement ring and left assuming Brittany still wants Kate and is going to propose. Without waiting another second, Brittany rushes downstairs to see if they know where Santana is. "Have you seen Santana?" Brittany asks the woman frantically.

"She left" the woman states.

"I was just outside and I didn't see her" Brittany frowns in confusion.

"There's a back door that she went out. She wanted to slip away quietly" the woman replies.

"She didn't even say goodbye" Brittany says sadly. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do now that she's left" she sighs.

"Do you want a ride to the airport?" the woman asks with a smile.

"Yeah" Brittany nods enthusiastically.

"Joe, get the truck" she shouts to her husband. Joe then drives her to the airport. However when they get there, it's too late because Santana has just boarded a last minute flight. It's not the direct flight they were supposed to be getting but it's a flight with a few changes where she'll at least make it to her parent's house eventually before the end of the night.

"This is just great" Brittany sighs in annoyance.

"What are you going to do now?" Joe asks curiously.

"It looks like the weather is clearing so I think I'll get my stuff from your place and just get a flight to Ohio. I think there's a few spare seats on another flight that I'll just book. There's no point waiting here for the original flight when I could easily pay for a different one and just get out of here" Brittany states sadly.

"Look you stay here and get a flight booked and I'll run back to the hotel and get your things for you" Joe replies.

"Thank you" Brittany smiles gratefully.

As soon as the flight is all sorted out and Brittany has her stuff, she manages to board the flight. The whole journey is long and boring but Brittany doesn't care. She's just glad she's getting to Ohio so she can talk to Kate and at least sort out half of the situation she has. When she arrives in Ohio, she grabs her things and takes a cab to Kate's parents' house.

"Brittany thank god you're here" Kate says relieved as she answers the door. "I didn't think you were going to make it on time" she states while hugging Brittany.

"Yeah, me neither" Brittany replies quietly while moving away from Kate.

"What's wrong, you seem sad about something" Kate tells her.

"You have practically ignored me since you found out I was sharing a hotel room with someone and now you are here hugging me like nothing happened" Brittany states.

"I was just upset, that's all" Kate replies.

"This just isn't going to work anymore Kate. You can't think ignoring me for days is ok or mature. What if something happened to me in that tortuous weather?" Brittany asks.

"I don't know what you're trying to say Brittany" Kate replies confused.

"I'm saying I think we need to break up" Brittany sighs.

"Wait…you want to break up with me because I ignored a few calls because I was mad at you?" Kate asks. "I just needed time to cool down that's all" she states.

"That's not why I want to break up" Brittany replies.

"So tell me why then" Kate sighs annoyed. Brittany then goes on to detail everything about the last few days and what it's made her realise. Kate take it pretty hard like Brittany expected so she decides not to overstay her welcome so leaves reasonably soon after. She goes to a local café to get some coffee and to decide what to do next. After thinking over it for a moment, she realises Santana should be in Ohio now and she has a brief recollection of where Santana said her parents stayed so she decides to go and find her. After knocking on 5 or 6 doors along the street and getting negative results, she finally thinks this next one might be the house. She takes a deep breath before ringing the doorbell. She's only waiting a few seconds before the door is opened.

"Oh my god Brittany, what are you doing here?" Santana asks shocked.

"Thank god" Brittany sighs in relief. "I have been knocking on doors all along the street and I honestly thought I wasn't in the right place because no one here seems to know you very well" she states.

"I don't understand" Santana says confused. "Were you trying to find me or something?" she asks.

"Yes" Brittany nods.

"But why, I mean aren't you supposed to be with Kate right now since it is Christmas and all?" Santana replies. It's not quite Christmas yet but in an hour or two it will be the 25th of December.

"We broke up" Brittany admits.

"Oh" Santana says surprised.

"I don't know how you feel about me but I know that I like you and that I think I'm meant to be with you and not Kate" Brittany says honestly. She has never been this nervous in years to say something like this to a girl.

"I feel the same way…I think" Santana replies nervously. She doesn't want to scare Brittany off and say they should be together or whatever but she does want to explore whatever it is that they've got.

"Good" Brittany smiles before gently placing her hands on Santana's hips. She steps closer and leans in and kisses Santana softly.

"I…" Santana doesn't know what to say. She has wanted to kiss Brittany for a while now but she didn't have the nerve to make the first move and she really didn't think Brittany would kiss her right now.

"I'm not 100% sure how to proceed here since it's Christmas and I'm in a place I've never been before but ideally when we get back to LA then I'd like to take you out on a date" Brittany admits. She never fully thought through what would happen after finding Santana. She's just broke up with Kate so she can't go there and Santana is with her family right now so she's basically in this strange place on Christmas day all by herself.

"I'd like that" Santana smiles.

"So, I should probably get to the airport now and see if they have any flights back to LA and maybe I'll briefly see my parents before midnight tomorrow" Brittany states.

"There's no point missing out on Christmas completely so why don't you have dinner with me and my family and then we can travel back to LA on Wednesday together" Santana suggests.

"Would that be ok with your parents?" Brittany asks confused.

"Yeah, I mean I sort of told them all about our ordeal so I don't see why they would mind" Santana replies.

"Ok cool" Brittany smiles. "So how come you're flying out before the new year?" she asks curiously.

"Because I have an important meeting I can't miss on Friday at work" Santana replies. "I wish I could have spent the whole week with my parents though because they don't go back to work until January" she sighs.

"Let's fly them out to LA then and they could meet my parents and we could all spend New Year's together" Brittany suggests.

"Really?" Santana smirks.

"Wow…am I getting too ahead of myself because if I'm rushing things with us then we really don't need to spend new year together" Brittany states embarrassed.

"No I like your plan but I don't know if we'll get reasonable priced flights at such short notice. It cost me a bomb just to change my flight the other day to come alone" Santana points out.

"I'll pay for the flights then" Brittany shrugs. "I'll just cancel my first class ticket and that will cover some of the cost."

"I can't let you do that" Santana shakes her head.

"Look we've just had the weirdest few days ever so let's not waste any more time. It's obvious you and I have something between us so let's just take the bull by the horns and do this for ourselves" Brittany states. She's been in a depressing relationship with Kate for a while and didn't see it and the same goes for Santana with Dani so Brittany figures they should live life to the full and live in the moment. That includes spending the holiday season together and with their families.


	5. Chapter 5

After they finished talking, Santana invited Brittany inside and took her coat. She then went to the living room to tell everyone what was going on before bringing Brittany into the living room to meet her family.

"This is Brittany everyone" Santana tells her family as they walk into the living room. She's already filled them all in in her ordeal over the weekend so they all know who Brittany is.

"It's nice to meet you, I'm Santana's dad but you can just call me Marc" Santana's dad says while holding out his hand to Brittany who then shakes his hand.

"It's nice to meet you" Brittany smiles politely.

"This is my mom Maribel" Santana says and then Maribel and Brittany shake hands. "And finally, this is my sister Jade and my two brothers, Matt and Austin" she states and Brittany shakes their hands as well.

"Are you ok Brittany?" Maribel asks as Brittany seems to go quite quiet.

"Yeah I'm just trying to remember all the names" Brittany admits embarrassingly. "I had no idea Santana had any siblings never mind 3" she states. The way Santana talked sounded as if she was an only child or something so Brittany never really asked if she had any brothers or sisters because she assumed she didn't.

"I suppose the topic didn't really come up" Santana shrugs. "I don't even think I know if you have any brothers or sisters either" she says turning to look at Brittany.

"You spent the whole weekend together, I thought those kind of details would come up" Matt states. "Didn't you get to know each other that well?" he asks.

"Yeah but our families weren't a major focus" Santana shrugs like it's no big deal. It isn't really that big of a deal anyway because their main priority over the weekend was getting home for Christmas not discussing their families.

"I actually still don't know how old you are Santana" Brittany chuckles.

"Wait, you didn't even discuss that kind of thing either?" Jade asks shocked.

"Well I told her how old I was and I did ask her too but she told me it was rude to ask a lady her age" Brittany replies.

"Yeah that sounds like Santana" Jade laughs.

"Ok so things didn't get off to the best of starts but from here on in we're going to give things a good go aren't we?" Santana asks Brittany.

"Yeah we definitely are" Brittany smiles while nodding.

"She's 26 by the way" Austin smirks.

"That's good because so am I" Brittany smiles at Santana.

"Anyway as much as we'd all like to get to know you Brittany, I assume you'll want to get to bed since its late and you've had quite a hectic weekend" Maribel says.

"Yeah and thank you for letting me stay here for a few days. It's very kind of you" Brittany smiles.

"It's no trouble" Maribel smiles back. "Santana doesn't usually invite just anyone home to meet the family so when she does we know they're a good person so even though we have just met I'm more than happy for you to stay with us."

"Well I really appreciate it" Brittany smiles again.

"Dani never once stayed here you know" Maribel states happily.

"Ok mom you don't need to take such delight in the fact we are no longer together" Santana says slightly annoyed. She is over Dani but she doesn't like the constant reminders that no one else seemed to like her too much.

"Anyway we figured you could stay in your old room Santana and Jade can share with you and that would give Brittany Jade's room" Maribel tells them.

"Don't you mind giving up your room Jade?" Brittany asks.

"No don't be silly. I've had a comfy bed all week whereas you've had to sleep on a couch so I'm ok with it" Jade assures Brittany.

"Ok, thank you" Brittany smiles.

"You go to bed mom and we can show Brittany where everything is" Jade tells her mom.

"Ok well goodnight" Maribel smiles.

"Yeah sleep well everyone" Marc tells them. Once they all say goodnight Maribel and Marc head to bed followed by Matt and Austin. Santana and Jade then take Brittany upstairs to Jade's room and show her where the bathroom is.

"If you need anything at all then Santana's room is right next door" Jade tells Brittany.

"Thank you" Brittany smiles.

"Anyway we'll leave you to it, goodnight" Jade replies.

"Goodnight Jade" Brittany smiles and then Jade leaves to give Santana and Brittany a minute to themselves. "So this is a little weird right?" she states.

"Yeah a little" Santana laughs. She usually dates someone first before letting them stay with her and her parents but anyway.

"In a good way though, right?" Brittany asks.

"Yeah definitely" Santana nods. "It's weird but I wouldn't really have it any other way given the circumstances."

"I just hope I manage to sleep without you in the room. I've grown quite accustomed to having you near me at night when we're sleeping" Brittany smiles.

"We shared a room for one night Brittany, I think you'll survive tonight with me next door" Santana laughs.

"No I think I am going to miss sneaking into bed with you in the middle of the night and scaring you half to death" Brittany smirks.

"Just go to bed please" Santana smiles. Anyone else would annoy her if they joked around as much as Brittany does but seeing as it's Brittany, Santana really likes it.

"Ok but can I at least hug you goodnight because I don't think we're ready to be kissing every time we have a moment to ourselves but at the same time we're not strangers anymore" Brittany points out. "Plus we haven't really hugged before" she adds.

"Ok" Santana shrugs. There is no way she would usually hug someone like this but this is Brittany and everything changes when she's with Brittany.

"Good" Brittany smiles before wrapping her arms around Santana. "Goodnight" she says.

"Goodnight" Santana smiles while putting her arms around Brittany too. After a moment they pull away again.

"I'll see you in the morning" Brittany states.

"Yes you will" Santana nods before leaving.

* * *

Christmas morning wasn't that much different for the Lopez's this year as they went about their usual routine that they have at Christmas. Brittany felt slightly out of place in the beginning and was missing her family but she was more than happy to join in when she could. It did somewhat help that she wasn't initially planning to spend Christmas with her family anyway since she was meant to be spending it with Kate so she wasn't quite as sad as she might have been had she been meant to be in LA for Christmas.

After having a late breakfast all together, they all relaxed for a while since they decided to make a start on dinner preparations a little later. They mostly spent it watching some Christmas TV or texting other family and friends wishing them a merry Christmas. Brittany spent most of the time getting to know Santana's family and Jade even showed her some family photos. It's not that things were awkward between her and Santana, she just figured getting to know Santana's family would be nice. She also didn't want to put any pressure on Santana and to be honest she didn't want things to go too fast either considering she has just broke up with Kate.

Brittany is now helping Maribel take a few things out of the garage that she had stored in there for Christmas since there wasn't much room in the house from all the food they were making for Christmas.

"So is it usually just the 6 of you that have Christmas dinner together or does other family come over?" Brittany asks interested.

"Well when the kids were younger, all the grandparents would come over and so would my siblings and their kids as well as Marc's but nowadays we all just have our own quiet Christmases together. It's not that we don't want to spend Christmas with them anymore, it's just we all did it for Santana's grandparents but they're not here anymore so we all do our own traditional Christmases and spend time with the extended family on the 26th" Maribel replies.

"That's pretty similar with my family. I mean I don't have any nieces or nephews but no doubt when my siblings all settle down then all their kids will come too and we'll have our own family thing like my parents had with their parents and children when I was younger" Brittany points out.

"Yeah exactly" Maribel smiles.

"So is it just Santana that moved away or do your other children live elsewhere?" Brittany asks.

"They've all moved out now but Santana is the only one that has moved to another state" Maribel replies. "So how many siblings do you have?" she asks.

"The same as Santana actually, two brothers and a sister" Brittany laughs. For the amount of time she and Santana spent together over the weekend, she still finds it funny they never actually got to the subject of families.

"Do they all live in LA?" Maribel asks.

"They do but I would say I stay the closest to my parents compared to them" Brittany replies.

"I've sometimes thought about moving to be closer to Santana but at the same time I obviously want to be closer to my other children so it's quite hard sometimes" Maribel admits.

"I know what you mean because I was almost ready to spend my life somewhere else and the thought of spending so much time away from my parents killed me" Brittany replies.

"I can imagine" Maribel smiles. "Anyway it's cold out here so let's get some of this stuff inside before we have nowhere to sit for dinner" she says talking about the chairs they were taking inside from the garage. With none of her kids living at home, then Santana's parents decided to move some of their dining things to the garage because it didn't make sense to have all that furniture inside just for 2 people and could just bring it in for family dinners like this.

"Yeah good point" Brittany smiles. Just as they are moving things inside, Maribel's neighbour appears in the garden looking over nosily.

"Merry Christmas Sue" Maribel says while putting on her best fake smile.

"Yes merry Christmas" Sue replies while staring at Brittany wondering who she is. "I just thought I would come over and tell you the good news that my son Michael gave us this morning when he and Jane were opening their presents with us."

"I bet you did" Maribel mutters under her breath just as Santana comes outside to see what's taking her and Brittany so long.

"She's always got news" Santana mumbles to her mom while rolling her eyes.

"Michael is having a baby so we're going to be grandparents" Sue replies cheerfully.

"That's nice" Maribel replies while still doing her best fake smile. Her neighbour has always got to be better than her and her family.

"And also very impressive" Brittany smiles causing Santana and Maribel to burst into laughter.

"I beg your pardon" Sue states offended while glaring at Brittany.

"Well I mean I knew the times were changing and there were a few scientific discoveries on the forefront but I had no idea men could now get pregnant and give birth" Brittany states.

"Excuse me?" Sue says confused.

"Michael is a boy, yes?" Brittany asks and Sue nods. "Ok well I'm just saying it's impressive how he is the one having the baby."

"You've certainly got a smartass in your company this Christmas Maribel" Sue states annoyed. She didn't care for what Brittany just said to her.

"I guess I have" Maribel smiles. She's quite thankful to Brittany for bringing this woman down a peg or two.

"Who is this anyway, another one of the strays one of your boys bring home" Sue says while shaking her head.

"Not at all, my boys are not like that. This is Santana's girlfriend Brittany" Maribel says delighted.

"Mom!" Santana scolds. She is so embarrassed right now because she and Brittany and nowhere near that stage yet.

"Go with it please girls" Maribel says through gritted teeth as she continues to smile at her neighbour.

"So you've finally decided to settle down Santana after those many failed attempts at finding love" Sue states.

"Yes she did and she couldn't make me any happier. Santana is just amazing" Brittany smiles while putting her arm around Santana's waist.

"Yes and not everyone wants to rush into these things and marry the first girl they see just because their parents want them to. They need to take their time and find the one whereas Michael and Jane got married at 19 didn't they?" Maribel asks.

"Yes they did but they had been friends for many years before and had dated all through high school" Sue replies.

"Not according to what I saw" Santana mumbles under her breath. She knows for a fact Michael and Jane were barely together before they got married because she used to see another girl sneaking out of the house in the morning when they were younger and lived at home.

"Anyway I'm pleased for you but we must get inside now" Maribel says.

"Yeah I should get back to my family now too" Sue replies. "I assume grandkids aren't on the horizon in your family yet" she states with a smirk.

"Not yet no" Maribel shakes her head.

"Don't worry though, we won't wait as long as your son did. I mean he's been married 7 years already and the girl has only just got pregnant" Brittany smirks. "Maribel will have grandkids way before that length of time" she winks at Sue before walking inside. Maribel can't help but chuckle at that.

"Anyway, enjoy the rest of your Christmas" Maribel says before she and Santana go inside.

"Don't worry Santana, I was only saying that to wipe the smirk of her face. She really seems like a conceited bitch" Brittany states.

"I'm glad you did say that" Maribel replies. "Also I know you two maybe aren't at the girlfriend stage but I had to rub her nose in the fact my little girl was just as happy as her son is. I've told you before Santana how perfect she thinks her family is so I had to rub her nose in things a little because she never believes you could be just as happy as that son of hers."

"Ok mom" Santana nods.

"I'm sorry if I made you both uncomfortable" Maribel says sincerely.

"No I think Brittany took just as much delight in things as you did mom" Santana says looking over at Brittany.

"What can I say" Brittany shrugs. "If someone wants to believe I'm with a smoking hot girl like yourself then I certainly won't deny it" she smiles.

"Ok" Santana replies while rolling her eyes. She still finds it really hard to take compliments no matter how many times Brittany gives her them.

After all the dinner preparations were done, the 7 of them all sat down to dinner together. Brittany got to know a bit more about Santana and her family and in turn they all got to know more about Brittany. They then all had a quiet night and just relaxed before going to bed. The next day, Santana showed Brittany around the area she lived before they went back and Brittany sorted out the flights for Santana's family so they could all spend the New Year together. Some of Santana's extended family came over for dinner as well and Brittany got introduced to all of them.

"So we all fly out to LA tomorrow then?" Santana says as she and Brittany spend some time together just the two of them.

"Yeah" Brittany smiles. "Are you excited?" she asks.

"Yes and no" Santana nods.

"You don't seem too enthusiastic about it" Brittany states. She knows she's excited because LA is her home and she can't wait to see her family.

"On the one hand I'm happy I get to spend more time with my family which I thought I wouldn't get but on the other hand, being in LA means being back to normal because that's where I stay and work. I guess I'm just a little bummed to be leaving because being here in Ohio feels good because it's got that holiday feeling of being away from work and with family" Santana admits. She is excited to spend time with Brittany but to be fair she could do that any other day since they both live in LA.

"I suppose that's understandable" Brittany smiles. She probably feels right now how Santana feels when she's in LA away from her family so she gets it.

"It will be nice to meet some of your family though since you've met a lot of mine" Santana replies.

"Yeah I'm looking forward to that" Brittany nods. "I am slightly concerned what people will think about me though because I was still with Kate two days ago" she admits.

"Look you and I do have this connection but at the same time, I have no need to rush into anything so I'm good with us just being friends for the moment" Santana replies. "Once the holidays are over and we're back to normal then you can take me on that date that you promised" she smiles.

"I do really like you but I should be careful because Kate doesn't know any of this" Brittany tells Santana. "I started to have feelings for you when I was still with Kate so I need to tread carefully at the moment" she says. She does mean what she said to Santana but at the same time Kate doesn't deserve to be hurt either.

"I kinda get where you're coming from. I mean Dani broke up with me a week before but I do still have to sort a few things out with her" Santana replies. She's actually quite glad Brittany doesn't want to rush this because she doesn't either.

* * *

After they got back to LA, they both went their separate ways for a couple days. It's not like anything was awkward between them, they just had some things to take care of. Brittany had mostly work stuff to do and Santana did as well except she had the added issue of seeing Dani again. Even though Santana gave away some of Dani's stuff, she did keep a few things and Dani still had her stuff so they had to meet up to exchange their things with one another.

Santana is currently at Dani's apartment collecting some of her things just now. However it's taking a bit longer than expected because Dani decided not to bother boxing up the stuff so Santana is having to pack everything herself.

"So rumour has it you've got a new girlfriend and you spent Christmas with her and now you're spending new years with her" Dani states as she watches Santana pack her things up.

"That's not true" Santana shakes her head. Yes she is perhaps going to date Brittany now and they did spend Christmas together but she wouldn't say they're girlfriends.

"So you're not going to celebrate the New Year with your family and this girl and her family?" Dani questions.

"Yes we are" Santana nods. "We're not a couple or anything like that yet" she tells Dani.

"So since you're staying with Quinn then where will your parents and siblings stay?" Dani asks nosily.

"I've booked them into a hotel…well I haven't but Brittany has. She's got some work connections and managed to get a good deal" Santana replies. She of course will pay Brittany back when she can afford it.

"There's a name for people who sleep with others for cash" Dani states while smirking.

"It's not like that Dani" Santana sighs. She really doesn't want this kind of immaturity between them.

"So is she a nice girl this Brittany or is it just the dollars signs you're attracted to?" Dani smirks.

"I'm not with her for her money" Santana shakes her head. She really isn't but even if she were she wouldn't get too far because Brittany doesn't earn all that much more than Santana.

"So what is the appeal then?" Dani asks.

"That's actually not your business. You broke up with me remember so I don't know why you're so interested in my life now" Santana states.

"I just find it weird how you've been able to move on so quickly when I was the one that wanted to break up. If I hadn't have broken up with you then we'd still be together so I find it weird how you managed to recover so quickly" Dani points out.

"The time apart made me realise how toxic we were together" Santana replies. "And furthermore Brittany and I are just taking things one step at a time."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Brittany is at home catching up on a few work things. She doesn't necessarily need to go into work until after the New Year so she's taking advantage of being able to work from home. As she's just sending a few emails, it occurs to her that she hasn't heard from Santana recently so she decides to give her a text.

 _Brittany texts: hey it's Brittany. I haven't heard from you in a while so just wanted to make sure we're still good for spending New Year's Eve together_

 _Santana texts: I'm sorry, I've been preparing for a meeting so I haven't had time to call. We're still on for Sunday though_

 _Brittany texts: cool. Are you at work just now?_

 _Santana texts: yeah just taking a 10 minute lunch and then I'm going to the meeting_

 _Brittany texts: ok. Did your parents settle into the hotel ok?_

 _Santana texts: they did and thank you for that. I'll pay you back as soon as I can_

 _Brittany texts: don't worry about it : )_

 _Santana texts: I need to head to a meeting now so how about I call you tonight and we can sort out the plans properly for Sunday_

 _Brittany texts: sounds good, talk to you later_

Once they finish texting Santana goes straight back to work while Brittany takes a break and makes some lunch. She decides to text Mercedes and Tina to see what they're up to because she hasn't spoken to them properly since before Christmas. It turns out they're both free today so Brittany invites them over to hang out.

"So how are things going with Santana?" Tina asks curiously.

"Ok I think" Brittany nods. "I mean we're going to spend the New Year together and then we'll see what happens between us. I want to take her out on a date but I want to do it properly so I need to make sure everything is cleared up with Kate first" she states.

"Are your parents having their usual party to celebrate?" Mercedes asks.

"They are and I've said Santana and her family can come. I mean the main reason I helped with their flight out here is because I know Santana wanted to spend time with them but it's an added bonus if they come to the party because they can meet my family" Brittany replies.

"Are you ok with everyone meeting so soon or are you getting nervous. I mean Mike and I have known one another for years but it still took us ages to actually introduce one another properly to our families" Tina asks.

"I know it might seem soon since we haven't even dated first but given the circumstances we've just been in then I think it is ok" Brittany admits. "The way we met was different from how I have met anyone before so I don't see any of this going the usual way" she says but she means it in a good way. Things being so different to how her relationships usually happen might actually mean this is the one that will actually stick.

"That's true I suppose" Tina nods.

"To be honest with you, if things don't work out then I know we're going to be amazing friends anyway so there really can't be anything that can go wrong. If dating doesn't work then I'm 100% sure we could make friends work" Brittany replies.

"That's good then" Mercedes smiles.

"So apart from your parent's party, are you going to spend the 1st with Santana?" Tina wonders.

"I'm not sure because her parents and siblings are flying back home on the 2nd so I don't know if she'll just want some family time with them or not" Brittany replies. They haven't quite formalised the plans yet but they are definitely going to ring in the New Year together whether that's just at midnight at the party or if they'll spend some time on the 1st together.

"Cool" Tina nods.

"So where is it that Santana stays, is it close to here?" Mercedes asks interested. She knows Santana lives in LA but Brittany hasn't really said a whole lot more about it.

"It's really close actually from what she said" Brittany nods. "She even mentioned a few bars and restaurants she goes to and we go to some of them as well" she adds.

"I wonder then if we have ever saw her in passing before but just didn't know who she was" Mercedes replies.

"That's what I was just thinking" Tina nods in agreement.

"Well if it all goes well and my family don't scare her away then I'll introduce you all" Brittany smiles.

"Sounds good" Mercedes smiles back.

* * *

It's New Year's Eve and Brittany is with her family since her parent's party is just beginning. She and Santana met up earlier in the day and thought it would be good to introduce everyone before the party so they could just enjoy the party together without having to spend half the night with other people. Santana's parents and siblings met Brittany's parents and her sister Brooke and brothers Nathan and Harry over lunch. The Lopez's are all coming to the party but they just haven't arrived yet.

"Are you scared she might not come after meeting us all?" Nathan jokes as he comes over to talk to Brittany.

"I hope not" Brittany replies nervously. She knows her brother is joking but she can't help getting nervous. She hasn't had to introduce a girl to her parents or family in a long while.

"Santana seems like a nice person and you two seemed to get on well so I'm sure she'll be here tonight" Nathan assures Brittany.

"Anyway enough about me, is that girl that you're dating coming tonight?" Brittany asks her brother curiously.

"No she had to work actually" Nathan replies sadly.

"I suppose that's just one of those things when you work in the medical profession" Brittany replies.

"It's cool though because we'll spend some time together in the next few days or so" Nathan shrugs.

"Your girlfriend has just walked in Brittany" Brooke says running over to Brittany.

"She's not my girlfriend yet" Brittany points out. "But thanks for letting me know anyway" she says before going to find Santana.

"Hey" Santana smiles as soon as she sees Brittany.

"How are you?" Brittany asks.

"I'm good, you?" Santana replies.

"Really good, yeah" Brittany smiles. "Hey why don't I get you all some drinks?" she suggests just as her parents come over.

"No you don't need to do that" Marc shakes his head. "You two have fun together and we'll sort ourselves out" he smiles.

"Ok" Brittany shrugs.

"I'll get you all some drinks" Brittany dad Brad says.

"Thank you" Maribel smiles. Brittany's parents and Santana's parents get to know each other a bit more with some drinks while Britany and Santana hang out with their siblings. After a while they manage to sneak off to get some time just the two of them as their siblings all hang out.

"I like that my brothers and sister are getting to know your brothers and sister but I'm so glad you and I can spend a little time together ourselves now" Brittany admits.

"Yeah me too" Santana smiles.

"So are you right back at work after tomorrow?" Brittany asks.

"Yeah bright and early on Tuesday" Santana replies. "I could have took a few more days off but I didn't want to take them all at the one time when I might feel better spreading them out throughout the year a bit more" she points out.

"Yeah I'm the same because it comes a certain point in the year where you're just wanting a vacation or even a few days' work free" Brittany agrees.

"So have you spoken to Kate since Christmas?" Santana asks curiously. She does feel slightly weird about the fact Brittany probably has but at the same time she knows things would need to be sorted out.

"Yeah briefly although she doesn't really want to talk to me" Brittany admits sadly. "This is just such a confusing time for me right now because I really like you and want things to progress with us but at the same time I keep thinking how much of a bitch I am to move on this quickly."

"Brittany don't think like that" Santana shakes her head. "It's obvious you did love each other to an extent but at the same time I don't think it was in the way you wanted it to be so prolonging things wouldn't have made this any easier" she states.

"I do care about her and how she feels but I don't think we were right for each other. Maybe the realisation is what allows me to want to move on" Brittany replies.

"We don't have to be anything but friends until things are sorted with you and Kate, honestly" Santana smiles.

"It's not exactly what I want either though" Brittany chuckles. She really doesn't know what the best way to handle things just now is.

"Maybe you just need to talk things over with Kate and explain the situation. I know it might hurt her but lying and letting her imagination run away won't be a good thing either. She could think we hooked up or something when we were stuck in that hotel which clearly we did not" Santana replies.

"So you're saying we shouldn't be anything more than friends before I talk to her?" Brittany asks.

"I think so, yeah" Santana nods. They weren't exactly going to be anything more anyway since Santana doesn't like rushing anything in relationships but she means with regards going on a date and things like that.

"I suppose if the shoe was on the other foot then I'd like to know the whole story" Brittany reasons.

"Yeah, same" Santana agrees.

"Since it's almost a new year though, can I at least get a little kiss at midnight or is that pushing things?" Brittany asks with a slight smirk.

"Generally I never kiss on a first date never mind before we've even begun dating but our situation is far from the usual so there might be a chance for a little kiss" Santana smiles. "Especially if you keep pouring me drinks."

"Ok" Brittany laughs. After spending most of the night together, everyone comes together to bring in the New Year together.

"Happy new year" Santana turns and smiles at Brittany.

"Happy new year to you too, I wish you all the best" Brittany smiles back. After a few seconds she takes Santana's hands in hers and pulls her closer. They then gently press their lips together.

"I think this might actually be a really good year" Santana smiles.

"I really hope it is a good year for both of us" Brittany states and Santana nods in agreement "Although as much as I want to spend this moment together right now just the two of us, I better wish my family a happy new year" she says.

"Me too" Santana nods in agreement. "Let's go and find them" she says and they make their way across the room to find their families. They then all wish each other all the best for the New Year.


End file.
